Comment on Would a metal gazebo be safe during a lightning storm?

Diddlydee@feddit.uk ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

• Nibodhika@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  That’s wrong. Height is more important than material because air is a fairly good isolator, but electricity will always run the path of least resistance, which will invariably be the metal gazebo if they’re close enough.

  That being said, a metal gazebo can also act like a Faraday cage. The reason why a car is safe is because it’s a metal cage, electricity will flow more easily through the metal than through you so you’re safe. Wood might be less conductive than you, so the path of least resistance might go through you, making it less safe. Also trees are alive and have water inside so they’re way more conducting than a wooden gazebo.

  All of this being said, being near lighting when it strikes is not safe, as the electricity dissipates on the ground it creates massive electrical difference in the ground, and the least resistance path might be to go up your body and down the other side. Curiously if your feet are at roughly the same distance from the lighting strike you’re less likely to be electrocuted as the difference in electrical potential will be small, however if one feet is significantly closer than the other, as if you were running away from the lighting the electrical potential difference might be enough to kill you.

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  • litchralee@sh.itjust.works ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    but electricity will always run the path of least resistance, which will invariably be the metal gazebo if they’re close enough.

    Not according to the USA National Weather Service:

    The presence of metal makes absolutely no difference on where lightning strikes. Natural objects that are tall and isolated, but are made of little to no metal, like trees and mountains get struck by lightning many times a year.

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    • Dookieman12@piefed.social ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Those two sentences are entirely unrelated. Just because lightning will strike wood under some circumstances has nothing to do with whether it’s more likely to strike metal.

      A more definitive statement would be, “Lightning has been repeatedly observed striking metal objects, and those made of other materials, with equal frequency, provided the objects are of equal height and in the same general location.”

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• blimthepixie@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  So if metal doesn’t attract lightning then explain why tall buildings have lightning conductors, usually made from copper

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  • Diddlydee@feddit.uk ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    That’s a safe pathway for the electricity to discharge. The material is irrelevant. It’s height, isolation, and shape.

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• Dookieman12@piefed.social ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  If what you’re saying is true, how do you explain those videos of people playing with Tesla coils while wearing chain link suits?

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  • Diddlydee@feddit.uk ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    That’s essentially a wearable Faraday cage. The metal suit acts as a highly conductive shield. It forces the electrical current to safely travel around the outside of the body rather than through it.

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    • Dookieman12@piefed.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      So, the electrical current is forced to travel around the outside of the body because it’s attracted to metal?

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      • Diddlydee@feddit.uk ⁨41⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

        It is not attracted to metal. Metal provides excellent condition for the current to travel across the suit rather than the body. There is no magical attraction force.

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