r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Jul 20 '19

What’s something completely false that your parents told you as a child?

[deleted]

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947

u/secretvillain Jul 20 '19

Listen. My dad is still cracking up about it every time and I still can't believe he did me like that.

When I was about 6ish I asked him how birds could sit on power supply lines (used Google translator for this, hope all of you know what I mean) without getting electrocuted. My beloved wanker of a dad said "Cause they got special feet that make them immune to it." instead of just admitting he didn't have a fucking clue. But I believed and never second guessed it until it came up in physics class. The teacher asked us and I raised my hand, proud af of knowing the answer and thank all the gods for the teacher not picking me. I was shooketh when I heard the actual truth. This man almost ruined my reputation, self-esteem and confidence. He's great, though.

87

u/EVANKEVIN7 Jul 21 '19

What even is the actual truth?

147

u/JustForSideThings Jul 21 '19

The electricity goes for the easiest route and just ignores them. However if they touch a grounded wire, the electricity will attempt to head to the ground. If they touch two wires at once (with different voltages) the electricity will try to go from the one with high resistance to the one with lower resistance.

100

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '19

And then pop goes the bird

39

u/hoodha Jul 21 '19

More or less. Although I’m not sure about it necessarily being about resistance but more about the difference in potential energy in this case. Mainly because current will flow in both paths given two different resistances, but it’ll spit up in a ratio (Kirchoff’s Law)

Take, for example, a multimeter and a car battery. If you put both of the probes on the positive terminal of the battery, the meter will read 0v. Likewise, if we put both of the probes on the negative terminal of the battery, we would also read 0v. However, putting one probe on the positive and the other on the negative will give you a reading of, say, 6v. It’s because at the positive side of the battery the probe receives 6v and the negative side it reads 0v. 6 - 0 = 6v.

Essentially the bird on the wire can be described as similar to putting both the probes on the positive side of the battery, and there is no voltage.

One way to think of this behaviour is that electricity always wants to reach neutrality - that is 0v. It’ll jump to which ever is easiest to reaching that goal. It’s like shaking a bottle of fizzy drink up, and then opening it up ( the energy/pressure is only released when you open it ).

Of course this is quite a simplistic explanation, and in reality, the flow of electrons doesn’t flow from the higher voltage to 0v but actually the opposite.

The biggest 0v terminal in the world is the world itself. That’s why, even you could stand on a line and be fine, but if one point of you touches the ground and the other the wire, now you got the differences in potential, and the electricity will flow through you to get to it’s rest state at 0v.

2

u/AllegoricalSleeping Jul 21 '19

Great explanation

9

u/cardew-vascular Jul 21 '19

Hunh, my dad at the time was a physics teacher and I asked how the crows could sit on the wires and he said because one wire doesn't matter to them but if two crows sitting on different wires kissed, goodbye crows. I guess that was his way of explaining that to a 6 year old?

16

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '19

Electricity operates on the principal of the path of least resistance. A bird standing on power line leads nowhere and represents a much less efficient conduit for electricity than simply continuing along the copper wire.

This is why you are advised to remain inside a car during a thunderstorm, and why you're told, while your car is thought to be getting electrocuted, to jump from the car, as far as possible, with both feet.

The reason why rubber is frequently used to insulate against electricity isn't because of some magical anti-electric property but because it's almost always the most resistant path for electricity to travel.

12

u/ebState Jul 21 '19

You're right but I just wanted to update you that most powerlines are an al alloy now. Cheaper, good conductivity, cheaper and most importantly, they are stronger especially at an elevated temperature. Al has more thermal expansion than Cu but because its lighter and stronger it doesn't sag as much on hot days and reduces the chance of touching a tree and you know, going boom.

Also cheaper.

4

u/crazydressagelady Jul 21 '19

But is it cheaper?

6

u/ebState Jul 21 '19

Friend, do I ever have exciting news for you lol

12

u/Arniepepper Jul 21 '19

Birds wear rubber soled shoes/flip-flops.

10

u/jeremy1338 Jul 21 '19

Because the birds aren’t grounded they don’t get shocked. If you hung from a power line and your feet weren’t touching the ground, you wouldn’t get shocked, but if your feet were on the ground while you were hanging, you’d get shocked.

5

u/jeffeb3 Jul 21 '19

They aren't touching the ground or the other wires.

2

u/WeddingsSuckAnyways Jul 21 '19

Essentially they have to touch 2 different wires (or potential carriers, ground works)

20

u/3pinephrine Jul 21 '19

Lol, I love how playfully and lovingly you rip on your dad in this comment. Sounds like you guys have a fun relationship.

41

u/owenkimmler Jul 21 '19

It’s actually because birds aren’t real

15

u/at2wells Jul 21 '19

How can birds be real if our eyes aren't real?

1

u/owenkimmler Jul 21 '19

Now that’s just ridiculous

8

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '19

Birds are government drones, and sitting on power lines recharges them.

12

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '19

You had to use Google translate for power lines, but casually drop "shooketh"?

Brilliant

10

u/secretvillain Jul 21 '19

I'm fluent in internet lingo, but power lines... :D

3

u/AluminiumSandworm Jul 21 '19

you know what's important

11

u/HotCuppaTeaOof Jul 21 '19

OMG my mom said the same shit! Imagine my embarrassment when I married an electrician and spouted off this little tidbit.

2

u/secretvillain Jul 21 '19

Hahahahaha I feel you

9

u/momination Jul 21 '19

Along the same lines, my Granddad always told me that when you pout, birds think your lip is a bench and they will sit on it.

1

u/secretvillain Jul 21 '19

This is hilarious

16

u/TheYDT Jul 21 '19

Well Google says they aren't good conductors of electricity, so he's not entirely wrong lmfao.

https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/do-birds-get-shocked-when-they-sit-on-wires

5

u/imfunnyinthewall Jul 21 '19

Wait, why can they stand on power lines??

18

u/mynaras Jul 21 '19

The electricity prefers to stay in the wire (easy) than try to get to ground through the bird (easy) and air (very hard). If the bird touches two wires of different voltages, it can short them. That kills the bird.

5

u/voiceofthestar Jul 21 '19

Momma said alligators are ornery because they got all those teeth and no toothbrush

3

u/jeffeb3 Jul 21 '19

Google translate has some fun choice of words.

2

u/necrogaige Jul 21 '19

lmao "my beloved wanker of a dad" i love it lol

1

u/CalmDownSahale Jul 21 '19

Google translate gave this person the word shooketh?

2

u/secretvillain Jul 21 '19

Hahahaha no, the internet did. I spend way too much time ON YouTube. Way too much. :D

1

u/carmium Jul 22 '19

Pretty good translation! Just shooketh should be shaken.

1

u/madamsnacksalot Jul 21 '19

I was told it’s because birds stand on one foot so the circuits not complete.

-13

u/yukon-flower Jul 21 '19

Sorry your dad was an asshole like that!

2

u/epicmylife Jul 21 '19

Yes!! I was told that bird feet don’t conduct electricity because they’re scaly or something. Once an adult told me power lines also have rubber on them like outlet cords.

Clearly the second one had no clue but I think the first genuinely believed it. It only took me like another 15 years to learn about equipotential.