Why don't birds on power lines get electrocuted?
Have you ever wondered why birds can sit on power lines and we can’t? I did some researchresearch and this is what I found.
ElectricityElectricity starts with electronselectrons pulled out of the ground and moving along a path like the power lines into your house and TV. This flow of electrons is called the current,current, and how badly the electrons want to move is the voltage.voltage. Finally they run back down into the ground. This makes a loop. Electrons will run along things that are good conductorsconductors like the coppercopper wires. Electrons find it hard to run though something like birds’ bodies that aren’t good conductors. These are called insulators.insulators. This means that birds can sit on one copper wire without getting electrocuted.electrocuted. If it’s a really big bird then the wing could spread, and touch the earth line which will then electrocute the bird. Or if the bird is sitting on the power pole then it will get electrocuted because the electrons want to find the fastest way to get to the ground.
So now you know why birds can sit on power lines without getting electrocuted!
By Kate
Bibliography
Websites:
MIT School of Engineering - engineering.mit.edu
wonderopolis.org
Youtube clips:
Why don’t birds get fried when they sit on powerlines? Megan Browning
Why Perching Birds Do Not Get Electrocuted? TutorVista.com
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