why donot the birds sitting on the live wire get a shock??????????????????????plz explain it in detail????????????????????/
Answers
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 don't get shocked when 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 they're already traveling along. As a result, the electricity bypasses the birds and keeps flowing along the wire instead.
Another reason why electricity will bypass a bird sitting on a wire is because there's 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 there's 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 electricity to 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!