Why is that sometimes when we touch something we get "zapped"?
348230
static electricity.  If the air is very dry in your house, this can happen, especially on carpet or upholstered furniture and then touching something metal or electronic.  We have this problem too, especially in the winter.  We got a room humidifier and it has really helped.  It adds water to your air.
718143
No, they actually don't come into contact with each other (unless electrons move, in which case you get shocked). In physics, this is why there are very few true contact forces. You see, stable atoms don't like being disturbed. When you press two neutral, happy molecules against each other they stay seperate and even force each other apart. The closer they get the more they push each other away. Its a very strong force. This is why you can't pass your hand through objects. :)
292506
Yes! You MUST be grounded to be struck...lol or harmed by lightning. This is because if you are not grounded there is nowhere for the electrical current to move to.\n\n ... think of it as a battery. It has to have both of those metal clasps touching on the top AND the bottom for it to work. If the battery is only touching one metal clasp the battery does not work.\n\n EXCEPTION: If u ly down on the ground u have a good chance of not being hit
644378
Static electricity builds up along the surface of the balloon when friction is applied, causing an electrical charge. This is the same phenomenon that occurs when you walk across a carpeted floor then touch a door handle, or another person and get shocked.
191204
Static electricity.  Just connect yourself to a ground and you'll be OK.
789370
Probably compensation for an unnatural move...it doesn't feel right, so your body tries to compensate for it.
143693
Friction causes the electrical charge. Touch something rubber to kill it. Touch metal to continue the conduction thus shocking yourself or others. Break the curcuit.
653153
This helps distort the pain sensation. There are a different kinds of pain receptors, and one of them can be distored by touch, like rubbing it or shaking it.
199036
Current burns, voltage jerks the muscles.  Too much current, you're toast.  Too much voltage, your heart stops.\n\nStatic built up from rubbing your socks on the carpet probably won't kill you.\n\nSeveral years back, in the wintertime, there were some news reports of people whose car blew up at the gas pumps.  Supposedly it was due to static electricity.\n\nIt's rare to get "shocked" outside when getting in or out of one's car or touching it or whatever but it does happen.  I remember a couple times in the past 5 years when it happened to me. A tiny percentage of times I have done that but way more than zero.\n\nSo, I guess the combination of a spark and being by your open gas tank could kills you, indirectly.\n\nTaking an extreme counter-example, there was a girl struck by lightening at the WHFS alternative rock festival in DC a few years ago. Apparently it knocked her a few feet from where she was standing.  But, it didn't kill her.  She was lucky.\n\nStatic charges build up more easily in wintertime. The air is dryer.  Something about the air molecules is different when there is less moisture.  I forget what, but you have probably noticed more "static" shocks in winter than any other time of year, unless you live in a really cold, dry place.\n\nA three inch spark seems pretty far.\n\nIn high school physics class, they said that each inch that a spark travelled off a sphere through the air indicated 10,000 volts.  I think it was 10,000.  Well, you're not a sphere and you are probably not touching one but that still seems like a lot.\n\nI used to get shocks of half or three quarters of an inch  when touching the corners of walls at the house I grew up in all the time.  That was really nothing.  I barely felt it.  It was just a surprise to feel it, and also to see the spark leap between the wall and your finger.\n\nModern buildings have grounding wires on all the outlets and stuff like that, to prevent electrical problems.  Not sure what really old buildings are like.\n\nIf you are wearing a sweater or wool clothing, that could increase the amount of static charge you build up.  There are all kinds of things that could do it.\n\nIf it happens on warm, humid days when you are not wearing any wool or sweaters, that would really be strange.  If not, maybe it is what you are wearing or the atmosphere that is mostly responsible.\n\nAlso, carpet is a big factor.\n\nFeeling it hours later, that's freaky. That never happened to me.
1049240
More intense vibratory movements from the molecules mean more thermal energy transfer to the matter which become in contact with it.  So you can burn your skin if the object you touch is really too hot!
1040958
Because if you press hard it will send the signal harder and force the batteries to work harder too!\n\nThat is why you do it, but I don't do that!\n\nThis question is posted in the "Mythology & Folklore" so is this\nMythology or Folklore?
828561
It's the nature of the beast. If a little thread of nerve is left around (as it often is) you feel the throbbing for a while
630744
Because you touch yourself.
137262
Utilize some conductor between you and the grounding point. For example, hold a key (make sure you're touching the metal part!) and touch the key to the grounding point (door knob, etc.)\n\nThe static charge you have accumulated will flow through the key, and the arc will be produced between the key and the door knob. Since you are in contact with the key, the electrons will flow freely through you, and the energy causing the 'zap' will only be between the key & door knob. You will not feel a thing.\n\nTo reduce your tendancy to develop a static charge, walk barefoot, wear cotton clothing and increase the humidity level of your living environment.\n\nTo learn more about the principles of static electricity, check out these lectures offered by professor Lewin from MIT, click the link below...
664551
Try searching the internet for "the zapper". It's a device that sends small electrical pulses and energy through the body on specific frequencies to eliminate parasites and diseases. I don't know much about it, but I remember hearing about it a few years ago.
544600
I had a close encounter many years ago, when I was a boy scout and having field camp in school. It happen to be a thunderstorm and I was walking in an open field with an unbrella when I felt my hairs standing on end. Next thing I knew, lightning struck a metal fence some 15 feet away. I was shocked by this, but felt nothing and continued my way to the nearest shelter!\nSo the next time I feel a build up of static electricity around me, I am going to run into the nearest building I can find. Especially on a rainy day.
650640
You are in deep and so am I.  The cursor moving on its own thing happens to me all the time.  It freaks me every time it happens, and I swear I can feel a presence.  \n\nOnce when it was moving on its own I put my hand on top of the mouse and I thought I felt a cold hand suddenly on top of mine.