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Why are birds sitting on electric cable do not get electrocuted but monkeys swinging on them, instantly gets killed?
Birds sitting on electric cable do not get electrocuted but monkeys swinging on them instantly gets killed because:-
In order to flow electricity, any circuit must be closed and here the circuit is incomplete as the bird is not in contact with any other wire. Here, it has no potential difference as both the legs of the bird are touching the same wire at the same constant potential.
If the bird will touch another wire of different resistance at the same time, then the circuit becomes complete and the flow of charge takes place from high voltage to low voltage, allowing the electricity to travel through the bird’s body. Then the bird gets a shock.
Also, the wires in the electric wires are usually made of Aluminum or Copper which are very good conductors of electricity. Electrons/charge prefer to flow through a substance having better conductivity (lesser resistance).
The claws of birds sitting on an aluminium/copper wire are not good conductors of electricity so they don’t offer an easier way to flow current through them. Hence electricity bypasses the birds and keeps flowing through the wire.
Usually, all the birds sit on any one of the electrical wires, so, they won't get shocked even, its tail touches the other wire, because their feather is the bad conductor of electricity.
On the other hand, a monkey's body is a conductor, they swing from one electric cable to others, and while swinging they grab the two cables at a time with their both hands, which are at different resistance. As a result, the circuit becomes complete and the flow of charge takes place from high voltage to low voltage, allowing the electricity to travel through the monkey's body, and the monkey gets a fatal shock and they instantly get killed.
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