Why is it that when lightening hits the sea all the fish don't die?
If water is a conductor of electricity surely all the fish in the immediate area would get fried
Answers:
The same reason why birds don't get electrocuted when perched on overhead high-tension wires with a potential of 50,000 volts or more.
The fish are part of the conducting medium, but the electric current finds it much easier to pass through the water than the fish.
However imagine a very large fish on the surface of the water. A lightening strike on the fish would certainly kill it since almost all the current would pass through it.
Have you ever played with an horseshoe magnet and metal paper clips?
The magnet consists of two parts: the magnet itself and a keeper (usually a steel bar). When the keeper is in place the magnet will NOT attract or pick-up the clips, remove the keeper and the magnet will pick-up the clips.
The reason is the magnetic field takes the easy path I.E. through the keeper. When there is no keeper the field takes the path through the clips, a side effect of which is to attract them.
M.
because the electricity is looking for the quickest path to the ground. it isn't looking to spread everywhere at random.
think of a parking lot. it is a pretty good conducter for driving on, right? but that doesn't mean your car ends up everywhere, it goes from point A to point B. the fish just have to hope they don't end up in its way.
If the fish is very close to the strike, or is further away (about 100 feet) but very near the surface then it probably is killed. This is because the water, being a good conductor, quickly dissipates the charge over the surface rather than into the depths.
Aloha
do you remember that football match years ago - where lightening struck the ground/pitch just after klick off - and all the players were stunned and had to be carried off my stretcher/ambulance etc - ouch, its shown on tv everynow and again - cant remember what its called though
sea water is an excellent conductor, but the charge dissapates with distance from the strike.
You have to take into account all the minerals and stuff in the sea which would 'absorb' if you like the strike energy. Because the sea is so vast to I think the energy transferred would only travel across the surface of the water in that fact the fish underneath would not be harmed.
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Answers:
The same reason why birds don't get electrocuted when perched on overhead high-tension wires with a potential of 50,000 volts or more.
The fish are part of the conducting medium, but the electric current finds it much easier to pass through the water than the fish.
However imagine a very large fish on the surface of the water. A lightening strike on the fish would certainly kill it since almost all the current would pass through it.
Have you ever played with an horseshoe magnet and metal paper clips?
The magnet consists of two parts: the magnet itself and a keeper (usually a steel bar). When the keeper is in place the magnet will NOT attract or pick-up the clips, remove the keeper and the magnet will pick-up the clips.
The reason is the magnetic field takes the easy path I.E. through the keeper. When there is no keeper the field takes the path through the clips, a side effect of which is to attract them.
M.
because the electricity is looking for the quickest path to the ground. it isn't looking to spread everywhere at random.
think of a parking lot. it is a pretty good conducter for driving on, right? but that doesn't mean your car ends up everywhere, it goes from point A to point B. the fish just have to hope they don't end up in its way.
If the fish is very close to the strike, or is further away (about 100 feet) but very near the surface then it probably is killed. This is because the water, being a good conductor, quickly dissipates the charge over the surface rather than into the depths.
Aloha
do you remember that football match years ago - where lightening struck the ground/pitch just after klick off - and all the players were stunned and had to be carried off my stretcher/ambulance etc - ouch, its shown on tv everynow and again - cant remember what its called though
sea water is an excellent conductor, but the charge dissapates with distance from the strike.
You have to take into account all the minerals and stuff in the sea which would 'absorb' if you like the strike energy. Because the sea is so vast to I think the energy transferred would only travel across the surface of the water in that fact the fish underneath would not be harmed.
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