2007-02-19 23:46:32 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
No. Thunder is not electrical.
You can get electrocuted if you keep playing with your computer in the shower though.
Long Live Jambi
2007-02-19 23:50:00 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is a very remote possibility that you will receive an electric shock - not so much by the elctrical curent being conducted through the water but by the current being conducted through the plumbing.
If you have plastic pipes you're safe but if you have metal pipes AND you're standing on the metal plug of the shower you can be electrocuted. This has happened and whilst researching this answer I came across a several instances of this happening, thankfully most weren't fatal.
The same can happen with electrical equipment and telephones and there have been instances of people receiving electric shocks whilst on the phone during a thunderstorm.
Lightning, like all electrical current, seeks out the path of least resistance which is why it prefers to strike a metal object rather than a wooden or plastic one and is why lightning conductors are made of metal.
Research by Ron Holle, a meteorologist with the National Severe Storms Laboratory suggests that of the 25 million lightning stikes each year in the US there are about 75 fatalaties. Of these fatalities, one person is killed whilst using the phone and two or three are killed by plumbing and wiring.
In short, yes it can happen but it's highly unlikely.
More info here... http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040827.html
2007-02-20 02:02:12 · answer #2 · answered by Trevor 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You know, I always heard that as a kid, but I've NEVER heard of an actual incident. I've nearly gotten zapped by lightning (which is the electrical part, rather than thunder itself) on the phone (very scary), and my computer DID get zapped in the same incident (which fried two phones, a caller ID box, and my modem card); I've also heard of any number of people getting jolted out on the golf course, on a mountain, or underneath a tree, but I've never heard of an actual incidence of someone getting zapped in the shower.
That being said - I wouldn't want you to be the first - so maybe it's best to wait :-)
2007-02-19 23:50:21 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lightning could travel through the water lines, and Zap you. So, yes. If the thunder is in the distance go ahead but hurry up.
2007-02-19 23:49:25 · answer #4 · answered by LuckyChucky 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's never gonna happen unless the lightning bolt makes a direct hit. Then it wont matter where you are. It's no more dangerous in the shower.
2007-02-19 23:53:52 · answer #5 · answered by =42 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
probability says no.
Its possible though that if lightning struck it could take the path of through your drain vent tube, up the drain of the shower, through you and then into the water pipe and into the gorund.
Not likely... but possible.
Because of the water sloshing over you... you'd be more likely to be burned than killed.
2007-02-19 23:51:26 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is not a good idea to take a shower during any thunderstorm, no matter how minimal it is
2007-02-20 15:55:26 · answer #7 · answered by Justin 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NO
2007-02-20 10:13:21 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋