Question: Shouldn't Doc have been severely electrocuted because he touched the lighting bolt when he connected the wires?
Mark English
31st Mar 2005
Back to the Future (1985)
Answer: Electricity always travels the path of least resistance. The wire cable is a perfect conductor and you can even see the electricity arch between the two cables while Doc is connecting the plugs, so most of the "1.21 gigawatts" passed by him and his gloves might have also protected him. In reality, a much smaller electric shock across the chest could have stopped his heart and, with no-one around to save him, would've left him dead.
Answer: He wasn't really shocked because he's wearing gloves when reattaching the wire after removing it from the fallen tree.
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Answer: He probably got a good shock, but there have been recorded instances of people being struck by lighting and lived with little or no injuries.
Mark English