What They DON'T Teach Kids is Amazing

[georged]

What could be simpler than "If you are ever outdoors in dicey weather and your hair stands up static-electricity-style, go flat on the ground and/or get the hell indoors ASAP, because 300 million volts at 30,000 amps has decided your body looks like a lovely antenna and is giving you a taste test."

It's a simple enough message that third graders could handle it, along with "Don't jump off skyscrapers," and "Don't stand in front of moving trains."

 

[kcghost]

Well, I agree, but then again, I get these kinds of questions wrong all the time.

 

[olkofri]

"Don't stand in front of moving trains."

Don't stand to the sides either, especially if you're in OH.

 

[Briar Tuck]

It's been my experience that people greatly underestimate the danger of lightning and are mostly ignorant about it. One of the widespread beliefs I've heard is that being in a car is safe because of the rubber tires, which is false. Motorcyclists, also on rubber tires, are killed by lighting every year. The safety in cars comes from the electricity being conducted through the frame of the car, which is also what occurs with aircraft. As long as you aren't in conact with the frame, you won't get electrocuted.

As a motorcyclist and a fisherman, lightning worries me a lot. I'm seeking shelter if there is any threat of lightning in the vicinity. I've met fishermen that have been out in storms and felt their fishing rods start to vibrate. That's not something I'm interested in experiencing.

This is what a lightning strike does to a graphite fishing rod.

 

[mingc]

If you are ever outdoors in dicey weather and your hair stands up static-electricity-style, go flat on the ground and/or get the hell indoors ASAP, because 300 million volts at 30,000 amps has decided your body looks like a lovely antenna and is giving you a taste test."

I've never heard of it, seen it, or experienced it. What's going on? I assume there no giant hidden Van de Graaff generator nearby. Looks like it's a nautical thing.

And what would going indoors do unless you ground yourself first or later? Also, how would you do that on a boat if you can't get close enough to stick your hand in the water?

 

[mikethompson]

This is what a lightning strike does to a graphite fishing rod

That looks like something pulled from @Ahi Ka 's drain

 

[didimauw]

Not guna lie, I've not ever heard this before! But I'll definetly remember this!

 

[Hillcrest]

That wouldn't be the first thing I would think of when considering what they do not teach kids today. NOT putting heavy canned goods on top of eggs and pie would be one of the firsts; NOT letting the conveyor belt smash a $35.00 piece of fish would be another; teaching them that anyone over 50 already knows more than they will ever know might be another ...

Does the O.P. know someone who was recently struck by lightening that this has become a concern ???

 

[georged]

Water converts to a gas when heated above 211F (at sea level)...

...which expands (with impressive vigor and alacrity) to 1700 times its volume.

Trees are about 50% water.

Lightning is around 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine the two? A loud bangy noise and much destruction (see below).

The relevance? Human bodies are 55-60% water.

 

[jguss]

Well, I agree, but then again, I get these kinds of questions wrong all the time.

What grade are you in?

 

[georged]

I've never heard of it, seen it, or experienced it. What's going on? I assume there no giant hidden Van de Graaff generator nearby. Looks like it's a nautical thing.

It means you and the cloud mass above you have an unequal electrical charge, and the cloud is thinking about offloading some of its surplus into you.

Not just a nautical thing. Three people got 'sploded last summer standing near the White House.

 

[jguss]

The relevance? Human bodies are 55-60% water.

Tonight mine is 55% alcohol and 45% leftover pizza. And 20% Tagalong cookies. How much does that add up to?

 

[georged]

What grade are you in?

Dan can calculate the trajectory of an 8" artillery piece to hit a car ten miles away in his head, but gets lost walking TO his car that's only ten yards away.

'tis a mystery...

 

[jguss]

Dan can calculate the trajectory of an 8" artillery piece to hit a car ten miles away in his head, but gets lost walking TO his car that's only ten yards away.

I can do that too, except for the trajectory part.

 

[renfield]

Years ago I was sitting in a car in a parking lot when a large pine about 50 feet away was hit by lightning. Incredibly loud, bright and tree shrapnel everywhere. It wasn’t even raining at the time. Lightning demands respect.

 

[georged]

Years ago I was sitting in a car in a parking lot when a large pine about 50 feet away was hit by lightning. Incredibly loud, bright and tree shrapnel everywhere. It wasn’t even raining at the time. Lightning demands respect.

Believe it or not, though rare, lightning can travel up to 20 miles laterally.

Meaning not only there's no rain or storm happening above you, there are no clouds of any kind.

 

[brian64]

Kerry Livgren, lead guitar, keyboards, and primary songwriter for Kansas, told a story about performing their song Lightning's Hand during the Point of Know Return tour.

Robby Steinhardt, who had a MOUNTAIN of hair on his head, sang lead vocals on that song. They had rigged up some kind of apparatus that shot electricity into a rod of some kind that Robbie would wield like a sword as he sang.

During one of these performances, this thing apparently decided it would rather target Robby than the rod, and his mountain of hair started standing up as everyone looked in astonishment just before a giant bolt hit him and took a huge triangular chunk out of his hair. Somehow he wasn't hurt otherwise.

Can you see me, do you know my position
How quick is your eye?

 

[musicman]

It's been my experience that people greatly underestimate the danger of lightning and are mostly ignorant about it. One of the widespread beliefs I've heard is that being in a car is safe because of the rubber tires, which is false. Motorcyclists, also on rubber tires, are killed by lighting every year. The safety in cars comes from the electricity being conducted through the frame of the car, which is also what occurs with aircraft. As long as you aren't in conact with the frame, you won't get electrocuted.

This is false. A car is a safe place in a lightning strike, but not because of anything to do with the rubber tires. The metal frame of the car essentially forms what's called a Faraday Cage, which is an enclosure that blocks the entrance of electro-magnetic fields. In a lightning strike, a car will send the electrical charge around the outside of the car and to the ground. A motorcycle, being an open air vehicle, does not afford the same protections. I have a good friend whose car was struck by lightning while he was driving. He was fine, other than being a bit deaf for a while. His car, on the other hand (a Toyota Corolla), suffered a lot of damage to the electrical components. You are correct, though, that there is widespread ignorance about the nature of lightning. When the cops came to help out this friend of mine, they wouldn't touch the car, even though it was 30 minutes after the lightning strike and the electricity had long since dissipated into the ground.

 

[georged]

I have a good friend whose car was struck by lightning while he was driving.

 

[canucklehead]

I've seen lightning strike an aspen tree and blow it in half about 40-50 feet away from me and my brother, it was definitely a shocking experience, blinding and deafening temporarily.

My brother's friend had lightning strike and melt a big hole through the side of his aluminum fishing boat he was pulling on a trailer behind his jeep, as he was coming over the top of a hill.

Both incidents happened in the same area, west of Sundre, Alberta, in early summer thunderstorms.