When touching an electric wire, why do you become electrocuted when touching the ground, but not when you hang in it (or stand on it like a bird)?
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Electricity works using potential difference to flow, from high potential to low potential, it’s exactly like how every object placed at a higher altitude will fall to the ground. In case of electricity, we consider earth or ground to be 0 (because of the massive amounts of electrons in it), since electricity in the cable is flowing from one point that is high to another point that is low (and eventually into ground) it would be happy to take any shortcut it’s given, like your body in this example. But, if the voltage difference (potential difference between two positive and negative wires are high enough and you hold both of them in your hands you could get electrocuted – – often resulting in cardiac arrhythmia)
Tl;dr electricity tries to go to ground and if you use your hands to connect both the ends, you are a shortcut it wouldn’t mind using.
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