Is it safe for a person to be in car when lightning strike on it?
469436
READ PATEINTLY.. IT MAY APPEAR LONG BUT I GURANTEE YOU SATISFACTION....\n\nyes it is safe....\n\n\nBUT NOT BECAUSE OF RUBBER TYRES..... REMEMBER...\n    \n    NOT BECAUSE OF RUBBER TYRES...\n\nActually when lightening strikes earth surface the charge is in search of the shortest path (least resistance path) to reach the zero potential surface that is earth. Now a car with metallic body is a very good thing to provide that short route to the ground. Same concept as that of a "lighting rod" placed at the top of high rise buildings which attract the lightning towards it instead of the building concrete.\n\nI assume that you know that A PERSON WILL NOT FEEL ANY SHOCK UNTILL AND UNLESS THERE IS FLOW OF CURRENT THROUGH HIS BODY PARTS...\n\nWhen light strikes on the car top, it will get dispersed in all directions and flow through the frame to the wheel frames and then jump from there to the road through the wet tyres. This short jump (of around 8 cm height), in any case, requires less work than conducting electricity through highly non conductive air for height of about a car (120 cm).. or pass through you head and get out from your shoes...\n\nNow imagine yourself sitting in car... you are not in contact from the top... so when light strikes it has 2 options... either to jump  to your head or flow through the conducting car body... answer is obvious and it will pass through the car body...\n\nNow if my legs are touching the car floor then why not i get a shock then..? so answer again is that now when charge is at the floor it is having a zero potential surface below it and there is no point entering into your body and move unneccesarily upwards...\n\nHope you got it...
789941
Cars are NOT built air tight\nyou'll be fine\nremember to make sure the car doors are locked, park in a well lit area ( like a rest stop)\nstay safe!
369302
Q: Is it safer to swim in salt water than fresh water if lightning is in the area?\n\nA: It is definitely NOT safe to swim when lightning is in the area in any type of water. Even if current lightning is a few miles away, lightning can pop up in new parts of the storm very quickly. Salt water conducts electricity, which means that it can easily travel through the water toward you. The lightning current may spread out in all directions and dissipate within 20 feet or so, but don’t bet your life on how close the strike will be. As the highest object on the water, you may be the most likely target. \n\nAnswers archive: Lightning safety and survival\nhttp://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/archives-lightning-safety.htm\n\n-------------\n\n The voltages involved in lightning are so high that even materials that would normally be considered non-conductive become conductors, including the human body. The voltages are so massive that if they start to travel through a boat's structure - say through its mast - then meet with high resistance (for instance, the hull skin) the current discharge, in its attempt to reach ground, may simply blow a hole in the non-conductive barrier. The safety conscious Captain should make sure that his vessel is properly protected. Reference should be made in detail to the standards for lightning protection as set forth by the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) and the job should be performed by a licensed marine electrician.\n\nCone of Protection from Lightning - Faraday's Cage\nhttp://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/lightning.htm\n\n------------------------------\n\nElectrical current can easily travel through them and then to you.\n\nLightning protection tips\nhttp://www.aroundcentralflorida.com/features/lightning/
216173
Could be. You might also feel a tingling in your feet or on your body. If that happens, if your hair stands or you feel tingling outside, esp. when the conditions are right for lightning, HIT THE DIRT! That could make the difference btween living and dying.
1158044
No it isn't!\n\nWhy? Lightning! One of the easiest ways for lightning to travel into your home is through your water pipes, and it will travel right to your body since water has a high conductance. Things to stay away from include phones and computers, since lightning may also travel through the lines that are outside of the house.\n\nRemember, lightning doesn't need a metal object to travel into your home, anything that is a conductor will do. For more information, check out the great page Wikipedia has set up here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_conduction
563618
In My case, Knowing what to do would not be the problem, my toughest thing would be to do it without panic, because your wasting valuable air & time when you panic, i would first of all unfasten my seat belt and try to find somthing that has a point to break the side window glass out, and exscape that way and swim to the top , if you fail at trying to break the window , be as calm as possibile and let the car fill with water and when it does you should be able to open the door , because the pressure should equal the same on the outside of the car and innner , so dont waste your time and energy trying to open the door until it has filled with water , once you hit the water if you have electric windows , use the electrically switch to roll them down before it goes under , ofcourse they wont work under water .thats what i would do if i could keep calm, Good question!
1108755
I'm almost sure that you would be completely safe, because the lightning would be attracted to the rubber tires, which would then charge the lightning to the ground.
216544
Ordinarily, wood is not a conductor of electricity...\n\nBut not for lightning...It strikes the tallest object in an area. If you are under a tree or within its vicinity, if lightning strikes the tree, then it may likely hit you, too, due to its very high voltage (it may reach several thousand or even million volts)...\n\nIf lightning hits you, you will be lucky if you survive...
583119
It's perfectly alright to use the mobile phone during lightning, only during that duration you will hear cracking noise in your earpeice. don't worry about lightning in the sky but spread lightning smile to your caller's face through your smile!
893111
no it is not harmfull however if lightning stikes at your house or a neighbours your electricity will surge therefore damaging everything that is pluged into an electrical socket. \n\nit is not harmful if nothing near you gets struck by lightning!
680198
Your concept of the linesman is correct, however, being immersed in a body of water is dangerous.  Lightning carries a far greater potential than that of what the linesman faces.  True, there is no conduction of current to ground, but the copter and the line must be equalized before contact can be made.  This is because of the state of "STATIC ELECTRICITY".  Energy that is "Static" is not moving.  Nevertheless, when it comes in contact with another object, one who's energy level is at a different potential, the energy no longer remains static.  The sudden rush of current will be felt.  That's why when you cross the rug and grab the door knob you get a shock.  You have a significantly higher potential than the door knob and when you touch it there is a rush of energy trying to equalize the differences.\n\nBeing in a pool at essentially zero volts and a crack of lightning hits close by, the ground and the water in the pool will charge up before dissipating the lightning strike, possibly leaving you dead.  Wouldn't that ruin your day?\n\nDuring lightning storms stay out of the pool or the tub, do not be running the sink and stay off the phone (cordless phones do not apply in this case as there is no direct wiring to the outside world).  There have been documented cases where persons on the phone have been struck in the head by lightning, again it's due to that equalization of energy levels thing.\n\nHey, even if everyone is wrong, wanna risk your life?  You could die in a tub if someone dropped something electrical in the water.  True, your assumption is that water conducts better than the human body, but that is a wrong assumption.  Pure water is an insulator.  It's the impurity in water that makes it conduct.  Our bodies are actually much better conductors of electricity.  Don't believe me?  Ask someone like an electric shop teacher.\n\nI hesitate to give you a test to try because of the danger of electrocution, but if I were at your house I could demonstrate in a matter of seconds that what I am saying is true.  But for the sake of not causing someone to try a potentially dangerous experiment I'll not be specific.\n\nHowever, if you must know, e-mail me and we can chat.  When I am confident of your ability to conduct the test safely then I will tell you how to do this.
199036
Current burns, voltage jerks the muscles.  Too much current, you're toast.  Too much voltage, your heart stops.\n\nStatic built up from rubbing your socks on the carpet probably won't kill you.\n\nSeveral years back, in the wintertime, there were some news reports of people whose car blew up at the gas pumps.  Supposedly it was due to static electricity.\n\nIt's rare to get "shocked" outside when getting in or out of one's car or touching it or whatever but it does happen.  I remember a couple times in the past 5 years when it happened to me. A tiny percentage of times I have done that but way more than zero.\n\nSo, I guess the combination of a spark and being by your open gas tank could kills you, indirectly.\n\nTaking an extreme counter-example, there was a girl struck by lightening at the WHFS alternative rock festival in DC a few years ago. Apparently it knocked her a few feet from where she was standing.  But, it didn't kill her.  She was lucky.\n\nStatic charges build up more easily in wintertime. The air is dryer.  Something about the air molecules is different when there is less moisture.  I forget what, but you have probably noticed more "static" shocks in winter than any other time of year, unless you live in a really cold, dry place.\n\nA three inch spark seems pretty far.\n\nIn high school physics class, they said that each inch that a spark travelled off a sphere through the air indicated 10,000 volts.  I think it was 10,000.  Well, you're not a sphere and you are probably not touching one but that still seems like a lot.\n\nI used to get shocks of half or three quarters of an inch  when touching the corners of walls at the house I grew up in all the time.  That was really nothing.  I barely felt it.  It was just a surprise to feel it, and also to see the spark leap between the wall and your finger.\n\nModern buildings have grounding wires on all the outlets and stuff like that, to prevent electrical problems.  Not sure what really old buildings are like.\n\nIf you are wearing a sweater or wool clothing, that could increase the amount of static charge you build up.  There are all kinds of things that could do it.\n\nIf it happens on warm, humid days when you are not wearing any wool or sweaters, that would really be strange.  If not, maybe it is what you are wearing or the atmosphere that is mostly responsible.\n\nAlso, carpet is a big factor.\n\nFeeling it hours later, that's freaky. That never happened to me.
404054
Yes. Anywhere that there is lightning there is a possibillity for red lighting. Red lightning is caused by, lighting traveling from cloud to cloud. The clouds then distort the color.
79531
The tree can suffer burns without catching on fire.  This has happened to many people.  For more on lightning read this:\nhttp://www.insuremyhouse.com/lightning.html
409956
Actually, there are 3 kinds of lightning strikes:  Cloud to cloud, Ground to Cloud and Cloud to ground.  So the answer to your question is yes.
337548
Unless you have a surge protector and a backup system, it isn't recommended to leave your computer on. If lightning strikes, it can fry out the electronics in your computer.
443456
It could follow metallic vent pipes (and wiring too) into the house.  But you standing in water or not is just an accident of being near the vent pipes for the shower.  You could be washing your hands just as easily or touching an electric appliance where the lightning has come down an antenna wire or such.