If a dog rolled around on a carpet and gets staticky and a flea jumps on it will the flea get electrocuted?

Answer 1

Maybe... try it out if you can! I would like to see what happens.

It would probably not, although such an experiment would be interesting.

Electrostatic electricity has a big potential - thousands of volts - but small power when it gets discharged, that meaning the potential will subside momentarily to null volts, with the current caused very negligible. This current will cause little harm to the flea, since it consists of very resistive substances. The current might knock over the insect, but won't kill it.

There would be little effect on the flea because it is not in contact with a ground point at the same time it comes into contact with the dog, so there would be no discharge. This is the same reason birds can sit on overhead High Voltage train wires.

The charge could, however, pass through the flea enroute to another hair. The ground principle does not apply where the medium (flea) provides a lower resistance path than the initial one (air). But, again, the low current would probably not injure the flea.

*Electronic flea combs convert 3 volts to 4000 volts DC at only a few milliamps, and will at least stun most fleas that pass through the metal teeth.

Answer 2

No, a flea jumping onto a dog with static electricity will not get electrocuted. The static electricity is not strong enough to harm small insects like fleas. It might just experience a small shock, similar to the one you might get from static electricity.