How can you reduce your risk from ground current?
The answer is in this chapter.
One of the dangers of a lightning strike to the ground is the charge flow—called ground current—the strike sends through the ground. If you are standing close enough to the strike, that charge flow can be paralyzing or even fatal. However, there is a simple procedure for reducing your risk from ground current. Unfortunately, livestock are in even more danger from ground current than you are but cannot perform that risk-reducing procedure.
26-1 What Is Physics?
In the last five chapters we discussed electrostatics—the physics of stationary charges. In this and the next chapter, we discuss the physics of electric currents— that is, charges in motion.
Examples of electric currents abound and involve many professions. Meteorologists are concerned with lightning and with the less dramatic slow flow of charge through the atmosphere. Biologists, physiologists, and engineers working in medical technology are concerned with the nerve currents that control muscles and especially with how those currents can be reestablished after spinal cord injuries. Electrical engineers are concerned with countless electrical systems, such as power systems, lightning protection systems, information storage systems, and music ...
Get Fundamentals of Physics now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
