Any thoughts

[marty7384]

I was thinking today while it was storming if I was now a rollin lightning rod. I mean I have metal rods from T4 to L3 so if I'm outside am I more likely to be struck now than before. I know this may be stupid and I don't really worry about it but have any of you ever thought about this. I have heard not to grab metal when it's lightning so it must be attracted to metal. Hopefully lightning likes the big oak trees in my yard more that it likes me. I wasn't sure where this question should go since there was no BS category but if it was to hit me then that would have something to so with life so thats why I put it here.
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[november]

Don't forget the chair you're sitting in.

[Tufelhunden]

Originally Posted by november

Don't forget the chair you're sitting in.

This is actually important to keep in mind if you are out in a storm and there aren't that many larger metallic bodies around. Your chair will no doubt emit "streamers" which actually are the terminal point of a lighning vector. "Streamers" are created when the air between the charged cloud and the ground becomes "plasmafied" or something of that nature. It's been a while since I have taken a physics class, so hopefully someone with more knowledge than me on this matter can chime in.

[lynnifer]

I am scientifically challenged (lol) but aren't you grounded by the wheels?

Not a good idea for ANYONE to be out in a lightening storm anyway.

[Tom]

Other than getting indoors and not being caught out in a high-freqency lightning storm, about all you can do is try not to think about it.

I had a bolt of lightning strike the water TEN FEET from me as I was sitting on the shore of a lake in North Georgia tying my shoes in Boy Scout camp. No hair on end, no warning, no nothing just BANG, only 1000x louder than you could possibly imagine. Great way to get a sluggish kid to finish whatever he's doing and run like hell to cover!

Another experience I had was several years ago riding my bike, the sky opened up on me 50 miles north of home one cold, terrible night. There was lightning all over the place, closest strike maybe 200 yards. The highway ran across flat and open country in several places with the nearest trees being a good distance away. Hard not to realize you're the tallest thing for half a mile around sitting on a steel horse (yes, motorcyclists have been struck and even killed on their bikes before).

I would imagine that the risk in a chair is somewhat comparable. The hardware in your back is pretty minimal compared to the chair, motorcycle, or whatever vehicle you're in.

Lynnifer, I'll leave it up to Tuf to explain but no, your wheels do not offer any substantive protection - lightning isn't gonna come 5 miles to be put off by an inch or so of rubber

Here's the Wiki primer on lightning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning

Tom

[JerseyGirl]

Originally Posted by marty7384

I was thinking today while it was storming if I was now a rollin lightning rod. I mean I have metal rods from T4 to L3 so if I'm outside am I more likely to be struck now than before. I know this may be stupid and I don't really worry about it but have any of you ever thought about this. I have heard not to grab metal when it's lightning so it must be attracted to metal. Hopefully lightning likes the big oak trees in my yard more that it likes me. I wasn't sure where this question should go since there was no BS category but if it was to hit me then that would have something to so with life so thats why I put it here.
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You know...I've often wondered the same thing. I have metal from C3-C5 and from T12-L3 and again in my leg and ankle. However, I'm not grounded by wheels! So glad you asked this question!

[Eileen]

If lightning hits your chair you are grounded by your rubber tires on the pavement. In theory it would be a lot like being in the "electrical cage" they have at some science museums where the electricity passes around you and dissipates into the ground. If YOU are hit by lightning it's not going to make a lot of difference with the rods because you would be toast anyway.

[trainman]

I would think that sitting in your chair, you're lower than most things around you, including other people.

As anyone should, try to get inside and it won't be near the problem.

[feisty]

This might be totally unrelated, but I watched a mythbusters (yeah yeah, dorky, I know) where they tested to see if someone was more likely to get hit by lightning if they had facial peircings, like a tounge ring- and they weren't...

Unless the tounge ring was protruding and the size of a standard door knob.

So, I would assume that unless the amount of metal/screws I have in my spinal fusions are equal to the size of a standard door knob and on the outside of my body, I'm feeling pretty safe.

As for the rest of the questions, I have absoloutely no idea whatsoever. lol

[marielea]

i didn't even think about this!! great! i have a horrible phobia when it comes to lightning. i will not go outside, drive, talk on the phone, stand by windows, do anything with water....yuk. i've called in to work before b/c i couldn't drive in it. i've also been stuck in my horse barn b/c i was too scared to make it to the house. i just can't do it. its ridiculous. yes, i'm crazy. atleast i'm not in denial.