Lightening Q

mohd

mohd

Joined
Jun 3, 1999
Messages
1,989
One of my close friend who currently bought a HI BAS thru me asked me a simple Q which somehow I don't have the answer. Please help me! Pakcik Bill & all.

Q: Brass is a good conductor - it is used as the buttcap, bolster and scabbard tip cover of Khukuris - is it possible that it will attract lightening during a thunderstorm?
 
Mohd,

I would think that the location that one is at during a thunderstorm would be more important. I cannot ever recall an instance where brass brought on lightening strikes, so doubt that this is much of an issue. Perhaps one of the meteorologists on the forum could be more explicit.

Another point, if the brass being a good conductor of electricity was an issue during a thunderstorm, silver tooth fillings would be non-existant as silver is a much better conductor of electricity than brass.

Hope this helps explain the situation.

Harry

[This message has been edited by Kozak (edited 17 November 1999).]
 
mohd,

The conductivity of brass is about a fourth that of copper and about two and half times that of carbon steel, so while I wouldnt rule out a lightning strike personally I think you are pretty safe, I'm more concerned about my silver necklace
wink.gif
but then again already had my near miss with lightning back in summer camp years ago, made us take a swim test in the middle of a lightning storm, hit a tree about a foot away from the the shelter I had just gotten into.

salam hormat,
crow
 
Wet clothes can be a better conductor than any metal. I wouldn't hold any large bit of steel in hand if there's great big sparks around but it won't be the sole factor present.

Jim
 
Tell you pal if he gets struck by lightning his number is up -- doesn't matter brass, copper, gold. It is his time.

When I was working in the airplane business in Wichita I recall a fellow got killed by a lightning strike at Beechcraft. He was standing ten feet back inside the hangar from the door. The lightning actually came inside the hangar and got him. His number was up.

------------------
Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ

 
When I lived down in tampa (supposedly the lightning capital of the country) one day about 16 or so people were hit by lightning, it was a church group having some kind of picnic, I guess it hit the ground and the charge dispersed in a large enough area that it caught all of them, personally I'd take that as a sign to find a new church...

crow
 
Mohd, I'm an electrician and from what they teach us it's not what you have on you but what is in contact with the ground that counts. A peice of brass or silver or what ever will not attract the lightning if it is not in contact with the ground as this is where the lighting is tring to go.Has to due with negative charges attracking positive charges and stuff but I would say that your body standing on the ground, probably wet would attract it more then anything you might be carring. Unless maybe you are holding it over your head in the thunderstorm. Not a good idea.
 
Anybody ever seen ball lightning? I haven't personally, and my high school physics teacher said it was a myth, but Granddad swears he saw some once, moving along a telegraph wire at running speed. He said the wire was strung from tree to tree (on insulators I assume) and as the ball of lightning passed each tree it would sometimes send out an arc down the tree to the ground, leaving a black mark on the trunk. It only did this on certain kinds of trees, sparing others.

Any other ball lightning stories?

------------------
Namaste,
Jeff Paulsen

"Oh, a magic khukuri. Why didn't you say so?"
 
Yes, I saw it only once when lightning hit a small tree and for about 10 sec. a blue ball of light sat there then diapeared in a little puff of smoke. My mother remembers as a child a blue ball coming thru the window during a thunder storm and flying acrost the room and hit the steel chiminey. I also know a couple of other peaple with simular storys of it bouncing off the stove top burners then grounding out thru a chair or something. They now adays admit it exsits even though they can't really explain what really causes it, sort of a plasma type thing.Of course we all know that there are many things in this world that science can not explain. That does not mean it is not real or does not excist, it just means scientists are not allways as smart as they would like to think they are. I just except it and think its great.
 
Back to science class!

This is very interesting. What is believed to cause ball lighting. Plasma as Ice suggest?

Mohd if you are being chased by ball lighting I suggest you ditch the khukuri to run faster.

Will
 
Terima Kasih (translated as Thank You but lingguistically means your love is accepted).

Dear forumites.
Alhamdu-li-(A)llaah! Your opinions and explainations are really apprecieted. Among my friends I am the one responsible of introducing them to HI Khukuris - so - all sort of Khukuris Qs are directed to me. Thank you again to Pakcik Bill & all of you that have successfully educate me (via HI web site, this forums and personal email) so that I manage to give prompt answers on any of their Khukuris Qs!

Actually the reason why they ask about lightening strike is because Malaysia is a heavy rain country throuh out the year especially on Nov, Dec and Jan. Anyhow - it seems that the brass part of Khukuri is not a real lightening attracter as they think!

NEPAL HO!
 
Mohd,tell them that if they are worried about the brass, maybe they should watch out for the zippers in their pants too!
 
Ice, you are dead right!

When I was a kid 60 years ago a lot of clotheslines were made of galvanized steel wire. As I recall, perhaps a bit over 1/8 inch diameter. Lightning struck one pole holding the clothesline, ran down the line to the other pole which was perhaps a better ground and popped down from the line to the ground via the pole.

------------------
Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ

 
Lighting can do some pretty weird things. Some of them are pretty hard to explain. Thing is that it is a force of nature that deserves a lot of respect.
 
Once I've seen an artifitial lightning in high speed film. When the lightning came close to the earth (or some object), it seemed another lightning coming UP from the earth to join the first one.

Very horrifying couclusion, but thunder can be lured, but cannot be avoided by what kind of couductives you have, when outside in open places.

------------------
\(^o^)/ Mizutani Satoshi \(^o^)/
 
This thread just made me remember a rather frightening experience. I was riding a motorcycle through the Panamint Valley, the next valley over west of Death Valley, and got caught in a thunderstorm. I remember the lightning striking along side the road and the sand would sort of explode in a puff where the lightning hit.

I then took the time to consider I was the highest object in miles and was sitting atop a machine made of metal. Even though the rubber tires insulated me from a good ground I was very happy when I hit Rattlesnake Gulch and got into a canyon with high rocky cliffs on both sides of me.

------------------
Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ



[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 20 November 1999).]
 
That reminds me, when lightning strikes sand it can fuse it into a shape like a jagged sword blade. It's not usable, of course, but they're collector's items; some consider them magic talismans....

I had a close encounter with ball lightning once; I'll write a post about it later.

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
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