Why isn’t a bird sitting on a high-voltage power line electrocuted? Contrast this with the situation in which a large bird hits two wires simultaneously with its wings

A) The main reason why a bird sitting on a high voltage power line is not electrocuted is because for current to flow, there has to be a complete circuit with an electric potential in the path of least resistance and in this case the conditions for electric to flow are not met.

B) In contrast to A above, when the bird hits two wires simultaneously with it's wings while sitting, it would get shocked and most likely die by electrocution.

Explanation:

A) The main reason why a bird sitting on a high voltage power line is not electrocuted is because for current to flow, there has to be a complete circuit with an electric potential in the path of least resistance. In this case, the circuit isn't complete because the bird is not in contact with another wire which is needed to complete a circuit and thus has no electric potential because both of it's legs are touching the same wire at same constant potential and also at this point, even though there is very little electric flow, it is negligible and not able to harm the birds due to strong resistance to electric flow because the wires are usually good conductors of electricity.

B) In contrast to A above, when the bird hits two wires simultaneously with it's wings while sitting, it would get shocked and most likely die by electrocution if the wire is of different voltage from the one it sits because it's body through it's wings has now become a path for electricity to flow to another wire of different Voltage.

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