Will you get electrocuted if you touch a power line? Power lines are not insulated and you should always avoid contact with them. It is quite possible for people to get electrocuted if you touch power lines. Will electric fence kill squirrels? Why do birds not get electrocuted on power lines? Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Table of Contents. Electrical Technology 1 3 minutes read.
Show More. Related Articles. Electric Bill Calculator with Examples. Step by Step Procedure with Solved Example. One Comment. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Check Also. Unless it is blocked altogether by a non-conducting medium, an electrical current will always follow the path of least resistance between any two points. Power lines are sometimes insulated, but in many cases they are simply exposed to the air. That's safe enough because the air itself acts as an insulator: the electricity won't spark off into the space around lines.
But since the lines are uninsulated that means that squirrels running on these lines are coming into direct contact with the flow of electricity. Then why don't they get shocked every time they run on a wire? What would happen if a human were to touch an electrical wire just as the birds do?
Would it be any different if we had both hands touching compared to just one? What if we touched different wires with our hands? Feb 6, Bianca Feb 9, Chelsea Feb 22, This is a great article :! So useful and helpful. Feb 26, Thanks, Chelsea!! Swastik Nov 25, Birds do get electrocuted but on a negligible scale.
Even if it is assumed that no current flows through the bird's body though current does flow on a negligible scale as copper wire does have some resistance even if it is unobservable. At a constant voltage V bird's body would act like a capacitor A device that store charges of capacitance C. If this charged bird sits on other objects like branch of tree which is neutral object connected to Earth, electrons accumulated in the bird's body would flow to the Earth giving the bird a tingling shock.
However bird being so small a object, it would have very small capacitance thus less charge accumulated on it. This question was asked in. Nov 26, Swastik Nov 27, Dec 4, Thanks for sharing, Swastik! Where did you find this information? Wonder Friend Oct 18, Oct 23, Sep 20, We're so glad that you learned something new, afghanbee! Pepe Sep 3, I have 2 questions!
As I understood, there are 2 main reasons why birds don't get electrocuted. The first one is they offer more resistance than the wire and the second is that they don't represent a difference in voltage. So my questions are: What happens with the voltage of the bird itself? I doubt the bird has 35, volts on it. So, when it touches the wire, there is not a difference between the wire and the bird? And second When the bird touches a second wire or ground, there is a difference of voltage and it gets fried.
But, what happens to the first point? The bird still represents a major resistant for current than the wire, so why doesnt the current in both wires bypass the bird and continue on the easiest path? Sep 5, Blake May 16, This is completely wrong teachings. The bird does not get electrocuted because the bird is the same potential as the wire it's perched on. Hard to believe that this is the first Google result. Electricity travels on the outer surface of the bird and sees no current through it's body Michael Faraday presented this with the Faraday cage On higher voltages there is an electrical phenomenon called Corona which buzzes as the wire throws electrons off.
This irritates the birds. This is why you don't see birds perched on lines above 20, volts. I'll finish with saying I'm a journeyman lineman and I work at 5 voltage electricity every day of my life. May 17, Princess Jan 23, Jan 24, Wonder Friend Nov 6, Nov 6, You already have, by joining the conversation! Thanks, Princess! Audrey Nov 2, Nov 2, Gigi Sep 13, This is an awsome artical. I learned alot from it. Sep 14, May 2, At the work sites it is apparent to see earth wires are connected to a conductor exposed copper then lead to grounding.
My question is , Why this earthling not a reason of shock and if ground failed copper would be a conductor. What is neutral? Why copper using for grounding of electricity. Apr 8, Jan Feb 8, My professor gave me an assignment. This is the question: Birds have been known to perch on volts bare transmission line without apparent harm. Is this because of the very dry nature of their feet? So far, I haven't found any answers about their feet Feb 9, David Jan 5, Jan 6, Because some birds are conductors and insulators!!!!!!
Dec 6, Dipendra dipen45 Aug 17, I just saw crow got electric shocked and fell and died this morning. I wonder why only this got shocked among others. I'm a little confused I didn't think so it touches the other wire. Aug 18, Grant Nov 17, Your post seems a bit misleading.
You say they don't get shocked because they aren't good insulators, but later state that if a bird could touch the ground at the same time they would most likely get shocked If your first statement is true, your second would not likely matter.
If the insulation of a bird was why it doesn't get shocked, the ground would not change that. I'm an electronic tech. There are many reasons why birds would not get shocked. If a bird could touch two lines or any other grounding source they would certainly be shocked at a minimum. Electrons follow the path of least resistance. If the bird touches another source, it would then be the path of least resistance. If two power lines happen to both be exactly the same, it might not, but if one line is v and one line is v, you could have 10 v go through the bird.
Amperage is really what kills, not voltage. Most power lines have tons of amperage and for a human a single amp through the heart could kill you. So there's really only one reason why a bird doesn't get fried. Wonderopolis Nov 20, Rishi Jan 17, Did the birds feel magnetic fields while sitting on electrical wires? Wonderopolis Jan 17, Faith Jan 6, I liked the blog because it taught A LOT about how birds don't get shocked.
Well, anyways I like how it made the birds music notes and I loved the music in the video. Thanks for giving so much information Wonderopolis! Wonderopolis Jan 7, Jacob L Jan 6, That is amazing. My head just exploded. Can't wait for the next post. Evey Oct 1, I didn't like the video when it made the birds into music notes. The video was way too short, and the video didn't tell me or show me if birds get shocked while sitting on electrical wires. Wonderopolis Oct 1, I learned that birds can't get shocked on the wires because it can't go through their body.
I was surprised to hear that if it touched the ground, we would get electrocuted. I want to now more about how it works. I wish I was a bird so I can sit on wires too! Wonderopolis Sep 30, I learned that birds don't get shocked on wires. I was suprised that birds don't get shocked on the wires. I want to know more about power poles.
It is because they don't have as much tissue and they are animals. Eva cherba Sep 27, I learned that birds do not get shocked while sitting on wires. I was surprised no bird has been shocked. I want to know more about birds and what they do every day. I love doing these things because they are fun to do. Peyton M. Sep 27, I learned that birds don't get shocked.
I was surprised that the birds looked like music notes. I want to learn more why people would get shocked and birds don't! The music sounds cool!! I learned that birds are bad conductors of electricity.
I was surprised that there was no voltage difference. I want to learn more about how so many birds can be on at the same time. I thought that it was cool how birds don't get shocked on the wires.
Conrad K.
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