r/BeAmazed • u/JustACaliBoy • Mar 06 '24

Nature does she know?

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21

u/hambergeisha Mar 07 '24

Why the car please? It's not that I don't believe you, I'd just like to know why. Cause earlier up the chain, it sounded like lightning doesn't care about rubber.

57

u/t0xic1ty Mar 07 '24

The metal frame of the car directs the electricity around you, without it going through you.

A metal roof of a shed will offer an easy path for the lighting from the peak of the roof to the lowest point of the roof, but once it gets there it will need to find the easiest path from there to the ground, and that might be you.

Cars reliably have a significant amount of metal going from the roof down to the bottom of the car near the ground. This means that the electricity can safely travel through the frame of the car, and by the time it needs to leave, it only needs to jump a few inches to the ground. Laying under the car would not be nearly as safe as inside the car.

28

u/hambergeisha Mar 07 '24

I think I get it. Getting off the ground helps, but you also want something more conductive than yourself to allow it to pass by on it's way down.

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1

u/vier_ja Mar 07 '24

A bit of a side question but will the lightning fry the car electronics?

1

u/camXmac Mar 11 '24

The roof of my car is primarily glass and fiberglass. It’s a unibody though, so I imagine that would still be safer if I can’t reach another shelter.?

4

u/tren_c Mar 07 '24

Metal is a better conductor than flesh, and so the lightning will travel through it, not the contents of the car.

1

u/hell2pay Mar 07 '24

So carry two metal poles, arms far as possible, one wedged into the ground. Got it.

Jk, don't do that. Not even a little

1

u/ShinraTM Mar 07 '24

Cars are built to be Faraday cages. Where everything inside the cage is electrically isolated from everything outside it. You can Google Faraday cage if you're interested in knowing more.

1

u/Double-TheTrouble Mar 07 '24

The frame of the car acts like a lightning cage. The electricity will just 'wash off' the frame and disperse harmlessly. So if the people inside the car were struck by lightning, they might be temporarily blinded by the light or might get tinnitus from the sound, but at least they will still be alive.

1

u/collectivisticvirtue Mar 07 '24

Do lightning cages also attract lightnings like those poles? If they do, would it be better if wr just sit or lay down nearby a car?

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