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Targa, Panamera Turbo
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Houston TX
Posts: 22,366
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Latest Brain Tease: Are You Safer in Your Car During a Lightining Storm?
I don't know the answer yet, but here is the latest brain tease from GlobalSpec:
You overhear a discussion at work where two friends are talking about the safest place to be in a lightning storm. One says to the other: "You're always safe in your car because the rubber tires insulate you from the ground." At this point you feel compelled to interrupt. You point out that yes, you are indeed safe in your car, but the reason has absolutely nothing to do with the tires. What keeps you safe from lightning when in your car?
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Michael D. Holloway https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Holloway https://5thorderindustry.com/ https://www.amazon.com/s?k=michael+d+holloway&crid=3AWD8RUVY3E2F&sprefix= michael+d+holloway%2Caps%2C136&ref=nb_sb_noss_1 |
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11-09-2006, 11:10 AM
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Custom User Title
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Miami
Posts: 4,294
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I don't remember what the name for this is, but it is the process by which the electrons pass through the frame of the car. The nature of the electrons is to pass over the outermost surface of the metal it strikes. Inside the cage of your vehicle frame, you are safe due to this. If you had your hand wrapped around a frame component, you would get zapped. They do a demonstration of this at the museum of science in Boston. Inside the cage, the guy is safe as it gets drilled by lightning. Even if he touches the inner portion of the metal, he is safe.
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11-09-2006, 11:15 AM
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Registered
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Interesting. By the way, my sister was driving in her VW bug when her car took a direct hit. It scared the heck out of her but otherwise she was fine.
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11-09-2006, 11:24 AM
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Back in the saddle again
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Central TX west of Houston
Posts: 56,135
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You don't watch enough "Top Gear". The "Hamster" sat in a car while an industrial lightning generator (for testing stuff) repeatedly zapped the car while he was inside. he was fine.
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Steve '08 Boxster RS60 Spyder #0099/1960 - never named a car before, but this is Charlotte. '88 targa  SOLD 2004 - gone but not forgotten
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11-09-2006, 11:25 AM
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Gon fix it with me hammer
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only if it's not made primarely out of CF
farraday's cage... nothing to do with rubber wheels
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Stijn Vandamme EX911STARGA73EX92477EX94484EX944S8890MPHPINBALLMACHINEAKAEX987C2007 BIMDIESELBMW116D2019 |
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11-09-2006, 11:27 AM
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Custom User Title
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Miami
Posts: 4,294
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The thing I don't get is the "rubber keeps you safe" fallacy. If it was the rubber tires that kept you safe, don't people realize that lightning safety would be as easy as standing on a tire? Would you stand on top of a tire at the highest point during a lightning storm?
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11-09-2006, 11:27 AM
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Gon fix it with me hammer
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Stijn Vandamme EX911STARGA73EX92477EX94484EX944S8890MPHPINBALLMACHINEAKAEX987C2007 BIMDIESELBMW116D2019 Last edited by svandamme; 11-09-2006 at 11:45 AM.. |
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11-09-2006, 11:43 AM
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Custom User Title
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Miami
Posts: 4,294
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Yup.
Also, a convertible is not very helpful. |
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11-09-2006, 11:43 AM
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Too big to fail
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Quote:
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"You go to the track with the Porsche you have, not the Porsche you wish you had." '03 E46 M3 '57 356A Various VWs |
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11-09-2006, 12:22 PM
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Moderator
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Quote:
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Bill Verburg '76 Carrera 3.6RS(nee C3/hotrod), '95 993RS/CS(clone) | Pelican Home |Rennlist Wheels |Rennlist Brakes | |
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11-09-2006, 12:30 PM
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canna change law physics
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Yup, Faraday cage. too slow
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James The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the engineer adjusts the sails.- William Arthur Ward (1921-1994) Red-beard for President, 2020 |
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11-09-2006, 12:36 PM
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PRO Motorsports
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Burbank, CA
Posts: 4,580
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Yeah I love the "rubber tires" argument.
Sure, the lightning just managed to pass through 2 miles of insulating air, but that 5 inches of rubber stopped it cold! LOL!
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'69 911E coupe' RSR clone-in-progress (retired 911-Spec racer) '72 911T Targa MFI 2.4E spec(Formerly "Scruffy") 2004 GT3 |
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11-09-2006, 12:37 PM
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canna change law physics
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Oh, and there is a great picture around somewhere of an electrical discharge through a car and the gounding from the wheel to the ground. Wish I could find it.
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James The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the engineer adjusts the sails.- William Arthur Ward (1921-1994) Red-beard for President, 2020 |
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11-09-2006, 12:38 PM
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Dog-faced pony soldier
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Faraday effect (as has been said). Basically all the electrons distribute themselves on the outside surface of a conducting material, since they're repelled by one another. Kind of like a "bubble"
You could always hide in a trash can or a dumpster too, I suppose as long as it was metal. Oscar the Grouch might've been smelly but almost certainly didn't have any singed fur from lightning strikes.
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A car, a 911, a motorbike and a few surfboards Black Cars Matter |
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11-09-2006, 12:46 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: PNW
Posts: 2,753
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gary |
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11-09-2006, 01:40 PM
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canna change law physics
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James The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the engineer adjusts the sails.- William Arthur Ward (1921-1994) Red-beard for President, 2020 |
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11-09-2006, 01:44 PM
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Banned
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 46
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Yes, you are safer in a car because, IIRC, it acts as a "Changian cage" or something like that. (Named after the physicist who discovered the phenomena).
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11-09-2006, 01:51 PM
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Gon fix it with me hammer
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Quote:
i thought you knew all white inventors by heart? can't you even read? the answer has allready been posted 10 times FARADAY... not "changian" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Faraday http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage
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Stijn Vandamme EX911STARGA73EX92477EX94484EX944S8890MPHPINBALLMACHINEAKAEX987C2007 BIMDIESELBMW116D2019 |
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11-09-2006, 01:59 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Higgs Field
Posts: 22,631
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Re: Latest Brain Tease: Are You Safer in Your Car During a Lightining Storm?
Quote:
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Jeff '72 911T 3.0 MFI '93 Ducati 900 Super Sport "God invented whiskey so the Irish wouldn't rule the world" |
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11-09-2006, 02:14 PM
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Targa, Panamera Turbo
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Houston TX
Posts: 22,366
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I was hit by lightning when I was in HS - maybe it fried my synapses and started this downward spiral???
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Michael D. Holloway https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Holloway https://5thorderindustry.com/ https://www.amazon.com/s?k=michael+d+holloway&crid=3AWD8RUVY3E2F&sprefix= michael+d+holloway%2Caps%2C136&ref=nb_sb_noss_1 |
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11-09-2006, 02:18 PM
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1984 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet
2007 Porsche Cayman
2000 Porsche Carrera
BimForce the Third, Esquire
1976 Porsche Carrera 3.0
1995 Porsche 993 Carrera Coupe
1970/1982 Porsche 914-6/911SC 2.7 RS
