Which metal attracts lightning the most?

Wrong: Lightning would strike the copper rod and not the house.

KennyJoe wrote:Wrong: Lightning would strike the copper rod and not the house.

Well, that is not exactly a guarantee. But the rod, actually you should have several, serve as the high points with usually aluminum wire going into the ground and attached to a copper ground rod driven into the ground. This allows the charge to move up through the wire to these high points and allows the current to pass through the wires and not the house.

KennyJoe wrote:Wrong: Lightning would strike the copper rod and not the house.

Sigh.

Read what I said again.

The point is that the presence of a conductor, even a grounded conductor, of a size scale vastly smaller than the height of the charge source, will not affect where lighting will strike.

KennyJoe wrote:Wrong: Lightning would strike the copper rod and not the house.

article wrote: If the strike occurs near the lightning-rod system, the system will have a very low-resistance path and can then receive a "jump," diverting the strike current to ground before it can do any more damage.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/lightning7.htm

jktinst wrote: Interesting reading that link but I find it hard to reconcile with the fact that whenever I hear/read about people getting struck outdoors, about 8 times out of 10, they had taken refuge under a tree (more often than not an isolated one). I'm sure that there's some degree of randomness as to exactly where the point of strike will be within the ground pool of positive charges but it would take a lot more to convince me that it's OK to hide under a tree to try and keep dry because, supposedly, it's too small to make a difference anyway.

The article says that the object attracts proportionately to the lightning...ie: a 3' umbrella will possibly attract a bolt that is within a 3-4' range...so your cams would be less than 1' ...your getting hit anyway!

Are you suggesting that it is pointless to have the lightning rod?

KennyJoe wrote:Are you suggesting that it is pointless to have the lightning rod?

nobody's suggesting that, a lightning rod is there to dissipate the energy(give the energy a path of least resistance through your home) before it does even more damage to your home/building, not to attract lightening to it. What they are saying is: ... you were still going to get hit anyways!

Thanks.

Regarding lightning rods on a house, The rods themselves are not very tall intentionally. They are about 12 inches and no more. That means they will attract lightning that is very very close by but not lightning that is further away which would defeat the purpose.

Kyle Tarry wrote: Also, let's not assume that lightning rods are necessarily scientifically researched and robustly supported. Some homes have figurines to ward off evil spirits, that doesn't mean they work.

I can't speak regarding figurines. But regarding lightning, that is completely false. Properly installed lightning rod systems, and yes it is a system, not just a rod, are very effective and proven.

Our lightning rod is 4 feet long. With the majority of it in the ground. It's about 100 feet away from the house.

KennyJoe wrote:Our lightning rod is 4 feet long. With the majority of it in the ground. It's about 100 feet away from the house.

That one is arguably worthless. I could do a drawing for you to show you why.

Ok: but I thought the lightning rod catches the electric current and dissipates it into the ground.

If you have to ask that question... its probably too late...

lol that said, i would avoid that situation at all costs and after a certain point i dont think it matters its not like your going to lobb your cams off the side of the cliff...

my 0.02

i think it is important to remember that lightning is an event of probability. There are codes and methods to try to decrease the probability of it striking a certain object, as well as methods to try to take it straight to ground in the most effective/safest manner possible. these can be very effective, but not a 100% guarantee.

one of the most interesting guidelines (at least i think it is pretty interesting) is the rolling sphere method. it is used in the power industry a fair amount.

I used to think that lightning only struck the highest objects until a backpacking trip to an alpine lake on the other side of the divide. I raced a thunderstorm to the safety of the lake nestled in a steep cirque.

I was standing at the edge of the lake enjoying the storm when a lightning bolt struck the side of the cirque only about 50' vertical above the lake. There must of been a steam explosion because boulders 4-5' across were blown through the air. The wall of the cirque was about 800' vertical.

After seeing that, I became much more cautious around lightning and stopped my game of racing storms to safety.

Main stream science doesn't fully explain lightning...how such huge voltage and amperage can can be generated by cloud particles rushing past each other.

However, Electric Universe scientists have filled in the gaps. There is a constant electrical circuit between the Sun and the Earth and that circuit is always changing and finding ways to connect.

There is a capacitor effect occurring as the Sun charges the Earth. The ground is one plate and the clouds are the other with the air the dielectric insulator.

The Electric Universe theory also explains the phenomena associated with lightning: sprites, elves and blue jets.

This is a very brief synopsis and the Electric Universe Theory is a vast field covering astrophysics; astronomy; physics; meteorology; geology; even human health. This is truly a huge paradigm shift.

Here are some resources:

thunderbolts.info/wp/2014/1…

thunderbolts.info/wp/

electric-cosmos.org/indexOL…

youtube.com/channel/UCvHqXK…

KevinCO wrote:Main stream science doesn't fully explain lightning...

It actually does. Rather neatly and without much trouble in fact.

The real questions begging to be answered:

Does lightning affect a soft catch? Should I jump or just let out slack?
And, finally, are you more likely to die by lightning with an ATC or with a Gri-Gri?

talk among yourselves...

A Grigri has more metal, which is a conductor, but also a bunch of plastic, which is an insulator. But that metal has sharp corners to cause corona discharge, and that plastic isn't going to insulate at 100MV.

In a lightning storm, I'd go with a Grigri so the lightning has to do so much pointless math that the universe just says fuck it and moves on.