Lightning

[Hairy Harry]

One time... (as a child) we were building a "fort"
in the backyard. We had the frame of an old metal chair,
and about 50' of thin steel cable with a weight on the end of it,
Actually I believe it was the remains of a sensor (mechanical)
for an indoor outdoor thermometer of its day (pre-electric...).

We ran the cable to the top of a nearby (tall) tree, and connected
the other end to the chair.

When the "Army corp of Engineers" (dad) arrived for safety
inspection, he noticed the cable going up into the tree and wanted
an explanation...

"Its our ELECTRIC CHAIR dad... we tie our enemies up in the
chair and then the lightning comes...."

(sound of several small children getting their @sses kicked...)

H^)  harry


>From: KA4HJH <ka4hjh at gte.net>
>To: synth-diy at node12b53.a2000.nl
>Subject: Re: Lightning
>Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2000 00:46:57 -0400
>
>>Lightning is DC, but usually there are many strokes at one time and
>>they do not have to have the same polarity...
>>
>>H^)  harry
>
>Clouds are positively charged, so the current in a ground strike
>usually flows from earth to cloud. The "feeler", however, usually
>travels down from the cloud to the ground.
>
>Got a kite handy, Harry? I saw this experiment on TV once done by
>some old dude wearing these kooky glasses...
>
>
>>Rory McDonald wrote:
>>
>>>  I just saw an interesting piece on Lightning striking humans on CNBC 
>>>and
>>>  made me wonder-is Lightning AC or DC? I know that the voltages can be 
>>>huge.
>>>  Some woman on the show got hit 3 times in her lift and lived to tell 
>>>the
>>>  tale-yikes!
>>  > Rory
>
>
>You're talked pulsed DC here, with pretty fast risetimes. Combine
>that with the high voltage potential and you have a current source
>that can worm its way into all sorts of odd places. And then there's
>the current available. Enough to melt/blast/fry everything in its
>path.
>
>
>If she was actually INSIDE a lift that was a good place to be. The
>fellow who had the world's record for being hit by lightening was a
>Park Ranger near here (Shenadoah Valley of Virginia). Eight confirmed
>strikes! Once while sitting inside a vehicle!
>
>The anxiety got so bad he killed himself...
>
>
>For those who insist on some DIY content check out "Things to do with
>a 25000 Joule capacitor..." and  "Alien Capacitor Autopsy" at
>
>http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/6160/new.html
>
>
>--
>Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
>"The Mac Doctor"

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