Lightning

[SpeedyWorm1]

Hey guys, quick question for all of you. I was in the car coming home from a baseball practice, and we got into this HUGGEE thunderstorm. Lots of lightning. Anyway, i was thinking, and i wanted to know if getting struck by lightning hurts. So, if any of you have been struck and survived, please do tell :) .

[GenocideAlive]

Well, stick your finger in a light socket. Tell me if it hurts.

If it does, multiply that pain by an order of around 100000. Try to remember that as a general rule of thumb, getting struck by lightning typically denotes a gruesome, painful death.

[Nuts]

I was struck by lightning via ladder.

Basically, I was on a ladder installing a satellite dish and well.....the rest is history. If the house hadn't absorbed most of the hit, I wouldn't be here posting.

[DarkLStrike]

I'm glad that lightning doesnt normally hit cars.

[U-238]

I haven't been hit but there's a man by the name of Roy C Sulivan that was struck by lightnig 7 times and survived each one of them.

Well, stick your finger in a light socket. Tell me if it hurts.

If it does, multiply that pain by an order of around 100000. Try to remember that as a general rule of thumb, getting struck by lightning typically denotes a gruesome, painful death.


GAs bluntness. You gotta love it:D Actually, for a slightly tamer effect, go touch a 110 volt electric fence and see how you feel after that. Then mulitply that by about 100000. Yea, it's that refreshing.

[SpeedyWorm1]

Well, stick your finger in a light socket. Tell me if it hurts.

If it does, multiply that pain by an order of around 100000. Try to remember that as a general rule of thumb, getting struck by lightning typically denotes a gruesome, painful death.

Lightning is static electricity. Sticking you finger in a light socket would not make static electricity go through you. People survive a lightning strike, multiple times even- I only asked if it hurt, not some ignorant spammy response.



Nuts, thank you for your reply, but please tell me if it hurt or not. I think it does, my friend thinks it doesn't, so I think asking someone who was actually struck is the best idea.

[kongurous]

Lightning is plasma, of course it would hurt, assuming it doesn't kill you. Have you ever touched a metal door knob or something and gotten a shock? It'd feel like that... just imagine it being hotter than the sun and causing your heart to change pumping patterns rapidly and your body to essentially crap out. Yes, it would hurt, and yes it would likely kill you.

[U-238]

Havn't you been listening??? Hell yes it hurts! As I stated it's like touching an electric fence except 100,000 times worse. I've got an idea. Why don't you wait untill the next big storm and then head out onto a bare hill (you're the only thing there) stand there the whole storm, get hit by lightning and then come back here and tell us what it was like. It'd ceartainly be alot more convincing than us telling you that it hurts.

[GrassDragon]

Either way, you're generally safe inside a car in a thunderstorm as the metal shell will protect you.

[kongurous]

Either way, you're generally safe inside a car in a thunderstorm as the metal shell will protect you.


QFTfunny

[Nuts]

Of course it hurts. It's electricity, it causes your muscles to constrict and you body freezes and you get a general sensation of "OMG HURT."

[Black.Ice]

My sister-in-law's car was struck by lightning while driving. I don't remember the story exactly, but I think it did damage.

Electrical charges cause muscle contractions, and excite your nerve endings because they are responsive to electrical charges. The closest thing I've experienced is picking up an extension cord bulb thing that was designed poorly, and electrocuting myself. It was only for a second, and man, it was the most intense feeling ever. My entire body clenched up, and I nearly jumped a foot because I wasn't expecting it (and my legs contracted making me jump)

Afterwards, I didn't feel any pain, but I couldn't stop shaking... my brother, being a med-student at that time kindly informed me I'll live, and he told me to put my hand in water -- it was the strangest feeling ever. Because of the semi-electrocution, your nerves are on overdrive.

Anyways, that's my little story. And yeah, I'm guessing being struck by lightning would suck. Being in Utah, we have a high-rate of lightning strikes that hit the ground as opposed to rolling along the clouds. I remember reading a story of some native Utahn who was out in middle of the desert when a storm rushed in. He tried running for cover to the closest mountain / cliff.... and according to the story, he felt his hair rise, and then he was struck. He tumbled to the ground, and decided if he stayed low to the ground, he'd be safe until the storm passed.

While he layed there, wondering what the hell happened, he was struck again! So, he got up, and ran for his f'n life. Before he reached the mountain / cliff thing, he was struck a third time.

After he told his story to everyone, they analyzed it to see if twas true and found that the backpack he was wearing was his saving grace -- and the reason he was struck so many times. It had a large amount of metal, and the lightning was arcing from him to the backpack, to the ground, therefore not killing him. Again, if he wasn't wearing the backpack he probably wouldn't have been struck so many times ...

[Modred]

Anyway, as a few people have mentioned, electricity causes rapid constriction and relaxation of muscles. However, what no one has mentioned, at least that I noticed, is that voltage largely doesn't matter. What causes the pulsation in your muscles is the current, measured in amperes (amps).

According to what I learned in high school physics, a high voltage charge with a current of only, say, 0.1 amps, would be able to largely pass through you without leaving any more than a buzzing feeling. Now, if you had a full amp or more passing through your body, it could cause severe damage, even at low voltages, because the greatest damage is from the rapid movement of your muscles, not the electricity itself. Put a few amps (I've heard it could be as few as 1) directly through your heart...poof, the poor thing would be so overworked it could cause heart failure.

So yes, I would say it would hurt quite a bit.

[Black.Ice]

You're slightly wrong there, Modred. If I remember correctly, a milliamp is enough to stop your heart. However, you need a high voltage for it to conduct through your skin, which is a great non-conductor.

That's why high voltage is dangerous for humans; a milliamp is relatively small, but with enough voltage, it can kill ya.

[dukenukem155]

I know some who died with lightning and some who r parilized, all i know is that once ur hit, u will have something wrong with u after.

[Modred]

You're slightly wrong there, Modred. If I remember correctly, a milliamp is enough to stop your heart. However, you need a high voltage for it to conduct through your skin, which is a great non-conductor.

That's why high voltage is dangerous for humans; a milliamp is relatively small, but with enough voltage, it can kill ya.

Meh, like I said, high school physics and relying on what the teacher said off the cuff. But to illustrate the point, have you ever seen one of those games at a carnival or amusement park, where you have two short metal rods and you simply hold onto them, one in each hand? The machine then slowly increases voltage passing through your body, but at such low current that it should not be dangerous.

But overall, it's the current that makes it so dangerous, although voltage of course plays a role.

A current of 0.070 ampere causes heart problems and may be fatal.
Hewitt, Paul. Conceptual Physics. Massachusetts: Addison Wesley, 1987: 515

Taken from http://hypertextbook.com/facts/AprilDunetz.shtml

Assuming that was copied correctly and the source is accurate, it seems to take a little more than a miliamp. And apparently most executions use(d) at least 5 amps (and we know that the first round on the electric chair didn't always kill o_O). I read somewhere else that one miliamp is the amount required for you to feel the current in your body.

[Black.Ice]

I read somewhere else that one miliamp is the amount required for you to feel the current in your body.

Ahh, that make sense. I probably got that and the kill amps confused or something. Anyways, good info. :)

[Fenguin]

Hey guys, quick question for all of you. I was in the car coming home from a baseball practice, and we got into this HUGGEE thunderstorm. Lots of lightning. Anyway, i was thinking, and i wanted to know if getting struck by lightning hurts. So, if any of you have been struck and survived, please do tell :) .
it definitely hurts.

if you're wearing anything that can either melt (i.e. plastic) or store heat (i.e. metal) you can get some serious external burns from being struck by lightning. in addition, regardless of what you're wearing, you can suffer internal damage/burns to your nervous system and organs as well which could potentially completely screw you up.

lightning strikes have a voltage of about a hundred million volts [1] and your body when dry has a resistance of about 500 kohms to 2 Mohms. this would create a current of 50-200 amps for a split second, more than enough to cause severe damage to your body.

[1] Williams ER. The Electrification of Thunderstorms. Scientific American Nov 1988, page 88.

[GenocideAlive]

Lightning is static electricity. Sticking you finger in a light socket would not make static electricity go through you. People survive a lightning strike, multiple times even- I only asked if it hurt, not some ignorant spammy response.
Ignorant? You're fucking asking me if getting struck by lightning would hurt, then giving me some cock-and-bull senseless story about "static electricity" when putting your finger in a motherfucking lightsocket, and you're lecturing me about "ignorant, spammy response(s)"? Tell you what, SpeedyWorm, why don't you go out and do a series of scientific experiments on getting kicked in the balls and tell me the results, moron.

[DragonPaladin]

K, GA is right. For some odd reason, i was trying to change a bulb in a lightsocket, and it wasn't working, so I pushed hard on the socket, and it shocked me. Didn't really hurt or anything, but it felt really weird...Like one of those hand buzzer. Also, if your computer is on, and you lick the serial cable ports, your tongue gets shocked.

Note: no comments about how I'm a dumbass for that thanks.

[wa123]

I think there is a limited degree of hurt where you body can take, if is over, the brain will make you faint to avoid the pain.

With the speed of lighting, I don’t think you can actually fell too much pain,
You should be either dead or faint out before you can feel how hurt that was.

[Staind]

You're slightly wrong there, Modred. If I remember correctly, a milliamp is enough to stop your heart. However, you need a high voltage for it to conduct through your skin, which is a great non-conductor.

That's why high voltage is dangerous for humans; a milliamp is relatively small, but with enough voltage, it can kill ya.
Er, Current is measured in AMPS. It's not voltage that kills it's the current. You can have a high voltage but with low current it won't kill you. On the otherhand, low voltage (volts) and high current (Amps) will kill you.

[Modred]

Er, Current is measured in AMPS. It's not voltage that kills it's the current. You can have a high voltage but with low current it won't kill you. On the otherhand, low voltage (volts) and high current (Amps) will kill you.
Reread his post. If the voltage is very low, the current won't be able to break through your skin. That's what he was pointing out. We both know that current is what kills, but he was pointing out that too low a voltage could prevent a deadly current from killing you.

[TinyDancer]

Didn't really hurt or anything, but it felt really weird...Like one of those hand buzzer.

Thats because those handbuzzers do the exact same thing, except on purpose. I know a few people with these clicky pens, but when you push the button on top to click the pen out, it shocks you. I hate those things..

[Zergling]

Lightning kills only 1 in 10 people. i have been hit about 3 times(what a life)and am here posting this reply. a car is not going to ground because of the rubber tyres. if you dont use tyres no more car and no more life(Fuel tank explodes).all this stuff is reinforced fact that i found in a weather book.

and yes it is amperage that kills. 6 milliamps across the heart and you are screwed. you can take trillions of volts as long it is under 6mA but say licking a 9volt battery. my ammeter showed about 192mA on the battery. And it gives you one hell of an electric shock. now about sticking a finger in a lightbulb socket. in australia you would be dealing with 240vac at 10 amps. killer.

[AresOfOlympus]

You do not get struck in a car based on gauss's Law with the car being an axample of a Faraday cage. Electricity will travel around the surface of the car and will not affect anything on the inside reguardless of the tires. You can stand in a metal cage and hit the cage and not be affected as well.

[Ragnarox]

You can stand in a metal cage and hit the cage and not be affected as well.

Which is why some people can do very neat tricks witha Tesla coil and a suit of armor.

[Battlecruiser]

Hey, for the people who got hit by lightning, did your ears feel like breaking when you heard the thunder? Because a few weeks ago, lightning was within a mile of my house, and the thunder was so loud, that all the windows were rattling and it sounded like a bomb just exploded. So do you hear that same thing, except many more times amplified, or does the sound start after it passes you?

[sololop]

Some lightning I think can be stronger than others, and so can thunder. I once saw lightning strike a school three houses down from me (School was empty by then) and it did not sound too loud. But other times thunder shakes my house, from a few miles away.

And I cant imagine the pain of getting hit by lightning, because once I fell ontop of an electric fence meant to keep horses in. Ouch. Not deadly or anything, but I was shocked for a good 5-10 seconds trying to get up from off of it. Felt very tingly and stinging and somewhat vibrate-y.

[Aquarian]

Well, once there was a light switch in school that didn't work. But I like to flick it on and off whenever I pass by. One day, same routine when I pass by the light switch. This time, it worked, but I received an electric shock. I was the talk of school! :D

Getting shocked in the finger and palm by a swtich is bad enough, wonder how bad is being shocked in the upper body by a lightning.

[The_Maker]

lolbumplol

Don't do that, mmkay Zergling?

*Hits the almightu smite button*

But just so this post has some level of importance so that it shan't be deleted, I have never been hit by lightning, but I have been within 50 feet OF a lightning strike.

Scared the beejeezus outta me.

[Neo]

Contrary to popular believe, if you bump a "dead" thread with relevant conversation and then said conversation continues, there is no reason to scream "omg thread necromancy!!!"

Tis fine =P Thats basically how the first Post Yourself thread came into existence, heh.

-Neo

[TinyDancer]

My cousin has a friend whose car was hit by lightning while she was standing right by it, she got thrown back 10 feet and her flipflops were still by the car where she had been.

[hammocksleeper]

Lightning kills only 1 in 10 people. i have been hit about 3 times(what a life)and am here posting this reply. a car is not going to ground because of the rubber tyres. if you dont use tyres no more car and no more life(Fuel tank explodes).all this stuff is reinforced fact that i found in a weather book.
I heard that it wasn't the rubber tires but the metal shell of the car that protected you.

and yes it is amperage that kills. 6 milliamps across the heart and you are screwed. you can take trillions of volts as long it is under 6mA

Now see, when you say things like that it is misleading, and not really entirely accurate. The current (measured in milliamps) is defined by the voltage divided by the resistance, as I'm sure you are aware. But this applies in the medium through which the current is being carried. In the air, or whatever else, something with very high resistance, those trillions of volts may very well net a current that is very low, below 6mA. But as soon as that current enters your body, the medium changes and thus the resistance changes, and that current can jump very high very quickly.

But in fact most things that are commonly electrified have a resistance that is less than that of the human body, and when it enters the body the high resistance mitigates the current, which is why you don't always die when you touch a light socket or lick a battery, despite the amperage that is listed.

[battlecruiser12]

Ya, uh lightning would hurt. um......... how do u get dat pic where da member info pic box is anyway?

[hammocksleeper]

Please try not to post in old threads. To answer your question, http://www.warboards.org/profile.php?do=editavatar