Why Is It Safe to Stay in a Car During a Thunderstorm?
1 Answers
Because a car is a metal object, its enclosed structure makes it act as a "Faraday cage." Even if the vehicle is struck by lightning, the current can pass through the car's outer shell and tires to the ground, without causing harm to the people inside. Detailed explanations of the Faraday cage are as follows: 1. Explanation One: A Faraday cage is a cage formed by metal or a good conductor, named after the surname of Michael Faraday, the founder of electromagnetism and a British physicist. It is a device used to demonstrate equipotentiality, electrostatic shielding, and the principles of high-voltage live working. 2. Explanation Two: It consists of a cage body, a high-voltage power supply, a voltage display, and a control unit. The cage body is connected to the ground, and the high-voltage power supply delivers 100,000 volts of DC high voltage to the discharge rod through a current-limiting resistor. When the tip of the discharge rod is 10 cm away from the cage body, a discharge spark occurs. According to the conditions of electrostatic equilibrium in grounded conductors, the cage body is an equipotential body with zero internal potential difference and zero electric field, with charges distributed on the outer surface near the discharge rod.