The monkey is safe until he is on single wire. When it get contact with another wire or any conductor in contact with earth, they get shock and sometime they die
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On the electricity pole there are two types of wire
Live or phase wire
Neutral wire
When both get touched to eachother they get short-circuit.
When we touch any of the single wire without ground or earthing we wonât get shock
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Electricity flows by the movement of electrons through conductors. The copper wire in electrical wires is a great conductor of electricity. Copper allows electricity to flow easily along its surface.
Electricity flows along the path of least resistance. Birds donât get shockedwhen they sit on electrical wires because they are not good conductors of electricity.
Their cells and tissues do not offer electrons an easier route than the copper wire theyâre already traveling along. As a result, the electricitybypasses the birds and keeps flowing along the wire instead.
Another reason why electricity will bypass a bird sitting on a wire is because thereâs no voltage difference in a single wire. For electrons to move, there must be what scientists call a difference in electrical potential. For example, electricity flows from areas of high voltage to areas of low voltage. Electricity flowing through a single power line at 35,000 volts will continue along the path of least resistance and bypass birds, because thereâs no difference in electrical potential.
If the bird would touch the ground while sitting on the wire or flap its wings and touch another electric wire with a different voltage, then it would get shocked and likely die by electrocution. This is because its body would become a path for the electricityto reach either the ground (no voltage) or a place with a different voltage(another wire at a different voltage, for example). This is why power lines tend to be high in the air with plenty of space between the wires!
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Excellent explaination @bivasnagâ:+1:
That is an erroneous statement. Given that most living organisms are full of water and salts.
Ambiguous statement
Incorrect statement.
Sort of correct.
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For electricity to flow a potential difference has to exist between the points of flow.
In a conducting object each point along the flow path is at a lower potential than the preceding point. The conductor points between the crowâs two feet also have a minute potential difference. However the crows body resistance is orders of magnitude higher than the wire between itâs feet. Consequently the current flowing is orders of magnitude lower. Therefore birds - or other living creatures like lizards - donât get shocked when they sit on electrical wires because they are not good conductors of electricity relative to the conductance of the wire between their feet.
If one were to to cut the wire between the crows feet and place a resistance comparable to the value of resistance of the crows body as measured between itâs feet, the crow would get a nasty shock.
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Arenât birds made of cells and tissues? Why donât they conduct? Any reference for this?
Since we touch with dead cells, we also should not get shock.
Also, conductors are âdeadâ, right?
How is conduction of electricity to do with live or dead?
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Electrical current is the movement of electrons,â. The movement of electrons through a device like your TV is what gives it the energy to display images and produce sound. Sun describes the long process these moving electrons take to get to your house. âThe electrons are essentially being pulled from the ground by the power station,â she says. âThey move through the power lines, through your TV, and eventually they make their way back into the ground from where they came.â This creates a closed loop, which is required for electricity to flow.
The other thing electrons need in order to move is motivation â or, more specifically, a difference in whatâs called electrical potential. âImagine lugging a bunch of bowling balls up a mountain,â Sun explains. âIf you give them a path, the balls will naturally roll down the mountain to a lower position.â At the top of the mountain, the bowling balls (which represent the electric current) have a high potential, and they will travel down any path that becomes available. When a bird is perched on a single wire, its two feet are at the same electrical potential, so the electrons in the wires have no motivation to travel through the birdâs body. No moving electrons means no electric current. Our bird is safe, for the moment anyway⊠If that bird stretches out a wing or a leg and touches a second wire, especially one with a different electrical potential, it will open a path for the electrons â right through the birdâs body.
There are other perils for our feathered friends, Sun points out. âThe wood pole supporting the wires is buried deep in the ground,â she says, âso it would also be dangerous for a bird to sit on the pole and touch a wire.â This is the problem that people encounter if they touch live wires â since we are almost always in contact with the ground. Our bodies turn out to be excellent conductors of electricity, and the electrical current will happily use them to complete a closed path to flow from high potential (the wire) to low potential (the ground). ZAP!
So how do workers repair live electrical wires without getting hurt? They use insulating materials in their clothing, equipment, and bucket trucks. Insulating materials such as rubber are materials through which electricity has a hard time flowing. So instead of passing through the electrician, the electrons stay on the other side of his rubber gloves or rubber-handled tools. (Keep in mind: these arenât everyday household gloves and tools â those are too thin to protect you from a shock and are often not made entirely of rubber) Another technique is to hang beneath a helicopter. Since neither the worker nor the helicopter is connected to the ground (like a bird), the worker just has to make sure he only touches one wire at a time. Despite continual safety improvements, being a power linesman is still one of the ten most dangerous jobs in America. So, itâs a good idea to stay away from electrical wires unless youâre a trained professional â or a bird.
Now if only someone could explain why birds are always all facing in the same directionâŠ
This is an article I found on MIT School of Engineering | » How do birds sit on high-voltage power lines without getting electrocuted?
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Because one is speaking of a single conductor in a system consisting of two conductors, separated by one or more generators, and one or more loads. In the case of the electricity grid, the second conductor is earth.
If the load is another piece of nichrome wire, hence a single wire, will one have a potential difference at half the length of the above nichrome wire?
This is correct from a common experience viewpoint.
However it assumes that the wire resistance is very low relative to the body resistance of the bird.
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The bird doesnât get electrocuted as the wire it is on has lower resistance than the bird. Electricity always chooses the easier(low resistance) path so the bird isnât electrocuted. Whereas if the bird has one leg on one wire and another leg on a different wire it might die. Humans get electrocuted because their feet are on the ground which completes the path of electricity.
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So according to u if humans hung on the wire and not touch their feet to ground they will not get shockâ:thinking:
@Paramveer
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if we are wearing a slipper and standing on the ground and holding a live wire with our both hand then will the current pass from our body @paramveer @jtd
Where will the current flow to from your hands?
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If we hold direct current and we are not in contact with the ground or any other thing that can complete the path we wonât get electrocuted. We can hold 220 volt âDirect currentâ and not get electrocuted. But in the case of alternating current which we have at our homes we get electrocuted because of an effect known as capacitance.
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That depends if it is alternating current or direct current.
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Also birds cannot sit on extremely high voltage wires they can sit on phase wires we receive at our houses
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Can you explain what capacitance exactly means?