If lightning hits a lake or ocean, how far or wide will the strike go? Like to the bottom or half way to kill fish or what? my friends mom has always wondered about this and i would really like to know!
[! ]Thanx [!]
2007-07-20 16:09:28 · 6 answers · asked by Suɱɱeʁ 0ɟ 69 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
In saltwater (a good conductor of electricity) the electric current will go as approximately 1/r^2, where r is the distance from the point the lightning struck.
Let's say the electric current is 1 million amps 1 foot away from the strike point. 1 million amps is quite lethal.
However, 100 feet away, the current will be 1/100^2 times as much, or 1/10,000 as much, which is 100 amps. This is still quite dangerous, although salt water conducts electricity better than a human (so most of the electricity would actually go around the human).
1000 feet away, the current will only be 1 amp. If you were in the water that far away, most of the electricity would go around your body (because of the high electrical resistance of the human body), and you would probably be safe. I cannot recommend trying this, though.
2007-07-20 16:16:42 · answer #1 · answered by lithiumdeuteride 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think lightning won't strike a lake because this water body can be found at the lowest point of the region it's in. Lightning is bound to hit something higher. I don't know about oceans though.
However, it's our pool's regulation that when lightning appears in the horizon, it's time to get out. The current actually travels for miles on the ground and when it hits water, there's a chance of electrocution. This ground current is actually one of the things geophysicists use to find out about layers in the ground!
2007-07-20 23:26:13 · answer #2 · answered by Revue 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It doesn't kill all the fish in the pond.....I wouldn't go swimming during a thunder storm but there's this small 1-3 acre pond in the mountains that used to get hit by lightning all the time that had fish in it and the fish didn't die. But any body of water around conducts electricity pretty well because of all the impurities in the water.
-H
2007-07-20 23:20:33 · answer #3 · answered by Hector D 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In water, the lethal radius is about 600 feet from point of contact.
2007-07-20 23:18:12 · answer #4 · answered by Sage 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well considering scientists cant even come close to the amount of power in a lighing bolt, id say it'd spread in a deadly fashion but would go straight down rather than fan out, thats my guess
2007-07-20 23:13:58 · answer #5 · answered by deathbykindnes 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it goes all around at the speed of lightning fast
2007-07-21 01:29:28 · answer #6 · answered by John M 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋