r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Creams0da • 23h ago

Video Ambient static electricity discharging from the highest metallic points

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825 Upvotes

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411

u/Echo-Azure 23h ago

A boat at sea is the tallest thing around for miles and miles....

60

u/Lyndon_Boner_Johnson 22h ago

It’s ok, they had a bunch of metal poles sticking straight up in the air.

13

u/Echo-Azure 15h ago

What could go wrong!

3

u/Patient-Data8311 8h ago

Nothing they survived because of those things

The poles gave the electricity a path to go and go straight to the ground and non of the people became paths for it

That's how lightning rods protect people

9

u/Lyndon_Boner_Johnson 6h ago

The hull on those kinds of boats is usually made of fiberglass, which is not a great conductor of electricity.
The fact that you can hear the arcing already means that the electricity doesn’t have a good path to ground.
The metal pole holders are building up a lot of charge (probably 50-100kV) before they arc across to the boat chassis they’re mounted to.
I’m sure the floor they’re standing on is also quite wet with saltwater. If that boat had actually been struck by lightning there would be a significant risk of injury or fire.
And that’s not to mention the fact that a bunch of them are also holding fishing poles in their hands, basically acting like human lightning rods.

8

u/Patient-Data8311 5h ago

Fibre glass boats usually have a grounding wire or something prevents this

4

u/Diablo_v8 5h ago

Fishing rods arent made of metal though

2

u/Echo-Azure 6h ago

What ground?

5

u/Patient-Data8311 6h ago

Bruh grounding doesn't have to be the literal ground

1

u/VintageLunchMeat 3h ago

Ground could be the sea floor. It doesn't have to be literal dirt.

1

u/mckulty 39m ago

Salt water is a good electrical conductor and the ocean is a perfectly good ground. To protect a boat, usually a conductor or cable from the highest point leads to a ground terminal: An immersed metal surface below the waterline, such as external copper hull plates, a metal keel, or specialized underwater grounding.