when lightning strikes water it travels through the water right, branching out and effecting everything thats in the water sort of like when a radio slips into a bathtub. Then why is it that we have so much fish in our oceans, when there is so many lightning storms over the oceans at any given time? When a lightning strikes water does it kill every living thing in the water? Is it true that whenever a lightning strikes water all the fish die in the vicinity, how large is the radius of effect?
also electric eels, when they send of an electric charge don't they run the risk of killing themselves?
2007-12-26 06:08:01 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Basically lightning stays more on the surface of the water rather than penetrating it. That's because water is a reasonably good conductor, and a good conductor keeps most of the current on the surface.
So, when lightning hits the water, the current zips across the surface in all directions. And if you're swimming anywhere in the vicinity, it'll probably hit you. But below the surface, most of the electricity is instantly neutralized. So the fish are generally spared.
Of course, if the fish happen to be surfacing, they're at risk just like you are. Some electricity does penetrate the water, right at the strike point.
So fish under a lightning strike can be killed, if it's close enough to the surface. But it has to be much closer than you do on the surface of the water.
2007-12-26 06:15:23 · answer #1 · answered by DanE 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
The surface of the water forms a Gaussian surface, which distribute the charge across it's surface of the water but will not penetrate the waters surface, this is also called the skin effect. It's the same principle that protects you in a car under the same circumstances, that's right it has nothing to do with the tires.
So as long as the fish doesn't break the surface the will get a front row seat to a cool light show and nothing more.
2007-12-26 14:51:58 · answer #2 · answered by Brian K² 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think it's electrical shock that would harm any fish in the vacinity. I think the accoustic shock is what fish worry about. Thunder is an explosion - the air surrounding a bolt gets heated in a instant, releasing a lot of energy. Close to a lighting strike, this energy isn't really sound, instead it is a front of compressed air moving quickly - and you hear a crack. In a compressible medium like air, this shock is buffered and spread-out into sound, which we hear as the traditional rumble. Well, water doesn't compress. The energy from a lighting strike over or at water is transmitted to any nearby fish, the insensity diminshing over distance. Like a depth charge sinking a submarine.
2007-12-27 15:44:40 · answer #3 · answered by KudosDC 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The fish dont like it . It shocks them. It a shock therapy they dont really need.
Well in reality when a lightning strikes an enclosed volume the Sum total of the Electric field inside the volume is zero. in accordance to Gauss Law. Hence that is why after the lightning bolt stikes the water, the fish will still be alive,since water is an enclosed volume.
2007-12-26 14:27:37 · answer #4 · answered by goring 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well, you know that fish & chip shop at the bottom of your road . . . . . . ?
2007-12-26 17:26:55 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
they arent grounded. just like when a plane gets hit by lightning you arent fried because you arent grounded
2007-12-26 14:15:58 · answer #6 · answered by mickey g 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
DanE rocks! Great explanation. Thanks... much better than my babble about conductivity and skin-effect would have been!
:-)
2007-12-26 14:22:57 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋