How does a bird does not get electric shock when they sit on electric wire?

Question

How does a bird does not get electric shock when they sit on electric wire?

Answer 1

The electric wires are laid in two or more different lines so that they don't touch each other. So there is no possibility of closed circuit. If the crow touches any opposite lines together then they might get the shock. So without the closed circuit there is no harm for anyone who touches the line separately.

Answer 2

B'coz they are not earthed i.e. to get a electric shock the bird should be connected to the ground.

Answer 3

i agree to the above people but i would also like to add that even if they touch 2 lines at a time then there can be a flow of electricity. To get an electric shock you need to touch something which is a good conductor of electricity so then it will pass through you to dat thing.

Answer 4

The main reason for getting a shock is the difference in the potential or potential diff in other words so............. wen a bird sits on a wire it attains the same potential diff of the wire and there is no pot. diff. to pass the current tru it

and secondly

for getting a shock the circuit must be complete but in this case bird is not at all connected to the best conductor >>>>>>>>>>>.. the earth so it keeps the circuit in check and it avoids shock but

if two wires are in contact then it will be prooved fatal>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Answer 5

To get shocked, electricity has to travel through you. This requires two conductors; the bird is only in contact with one. When we get shocked we are usually in contact with the ground, an appliance or fixture, or something else which makes a good return conductor.

Large birds can be shocked because they can contact two conductors, usually at a metal power pole. Some regulations now require "raptor protection" on power poles.

Answer 6

The line they sit on would need to touch a grounded line or structure. Some larger birds do get electrified, the smaller ones are not larger enough to sit on the line and have their wingspan touch something else. More info can be found at the link below.

Answer 7

B'coz they are not earthed i.e. to get a electric shock the bird should be connected to the ground.

pkn

Answer 8

to complete a circuit or to have electricity passing through a body u always need a earth.............n the birds only sit on 1 wire so theercirciut is not completed.......

Answer 9

Well, I just got back from dealing with a power outage caused by a sea gull.

So I can testify that the reason the bird doesn't get killed is that it has to touch two wires to complete the circuit.  Touching only one doesn't hurt it because there's no where for the current to flow.

On the other hand, if the wing span is big enough, it gets very dark, very quick - and it doesn't do the bird much good either.

Answer 10

One gets shock when the current passes through the body which happens only whenthe body touches both phase and neutre. When the bird sits on one line it touches only one line. So it does'nt get shock. But sometimes, when the bird flies if its opened (extended) wings happen to touch both the lines (phase&neutre) definitely it gets shock & dies.

Answer 11

because they are not grounded there is no flow of electricity

just like people who work on live power lines

they repell out of a helicopter work on lines and fly around till static charge is off of the craft

Answer 12

.Usually,when a bird sits on a wire its body touches the wire only and no other thing.Thus no potential difference is created for the current to flow through the bird's body and so the bird doesn't get an electric shock.

Incase the bird would have touched anything else(such as another wire or a nearby wall) at the same time it was sitting on the wire, a potential difference between the two parts of the bird's body (touching two different things)would have been created and it would have got an electric shock.

Answer 13

It's similar to when you move around on a carpet in Winter.  You pick up a charge and a voltage (estimated to be 50,000 volts).  You don't feel it at all because there is no place for the "flow".  However, once you touch someone at a different "voltage" or a wall switch, the charge you have picked up, the voltage can "flow" and "zap".   When the bird lands on the power line, as it approaches the line, it slowly picks up a "charge" and a voltage until it lands on the line and achieves the same voltage as the line.  If a bird reached out and touched the pole or another line, it would get "zapped" because the two voltages would be different and current would flow.  With a carpet, you simply don't generate enough charge to make a large current.  Thus, then you get zapped it's a pin prick.  Power transmission lines have enough capacity to generate very large currents to getting "zapped" is not good.

Strictly speaking "voltage" does not "flow".  Charges flow as current.  Voltages are a representation of the possibility for current to flow.  If two voltages are the same, no current will flow.  If the bird is sitting on a 5kV line and touches another 5kV line, the voltages would be the same and no current would flow, so he would still be safe.

Answer 14

If the bird is only standing then current will flow on the surface of his body, but if the bird while standing on the wire he put his peak on the wire then he forms a closed circuit and then it will get electric shock

Answer 15

To get shock,current should flow through your body.To flow current,there should be a potential difference.When bird sits on electric wire it becomes in the same potential of electric wire.while sitting in same electric wire if bird touches nearby wire it will get shock because there will be a potential difference.

Answer 16

when you touch a current-carrying conductor on more than one point, you are essentially wired in parallel with the portion of conductor between the two points of contact.  there is a small difference in resistance from one point of a conductor to the other, so there will be a voltage drop (albeit a small one).  if at any point in time the bird becomes more conductive that the wire that it sits on (i.e. a break in the conductor between his feet), he will complete the circuit, resulting in a dead bird.  

the fact is a bird's feet are very well insulated and the voltage drop between his feet is small.  

that's why they feel no shock.

Answer 17

Consider the two terminals of a battery.When we take a wire a connect it to one of the terminals while keeping the other end in the air, no current flows through it.

Now if you connect the two ends of the same wire to opposite ends of the same battery,current will flow through it due to the potential difference between the two ends of the battery.(This can be verified by connecting a bulb to the wire which glows on the account of the current passing through it due to the potential difference).

The same happens in the case of a bird.Usually,when a bird sits on a wire its body touches the wire only and no other thing.Thus no potential difference is created for the current to flow through the bird's body and so the bird doesn't get an electric shock.

Incase the bird would have touched anything else(such as another wire or a nearby wall) at the same time it was sitting on the wire, a potential difference between  the two parts of the bird's body (touching two different things)would have been created and it would have got an electric shock.