Originally posted by m!key:
the safest place to be is in your car. tires make great insulators.
Isn't that a myth(still not enough rubber to protect) and actually the cage like shape of the vehicle that makes it safe to be in your car?
edit: Taken from howstuffworks.com
"Rubber tires keep you safe in a car because they do not conduct electricity.
Nope. In strong electric fields, rubber tires actually become more conductive than insulating. The reason you are safe in a car is because the lightning will travel around the surface of the vehicle and then go to ground. This occurs because the vehicle acts like a Faraday cage. Michael Faraday, a British physicist, discovered that a metal cage would shield objects within the cage when a high potential discharge hit the cage. The metal, being a good conductor, would direct the current around the objects and discharge it safely to the ground. This process of shielding is widely used today to protect the electrostatic sensitive integrated circuits in the electronics world."
Last edited by hotdimmes; 07/17/06 11:03 PM.
