On Dec 2, 2010, at 12:44 PM, Dan wrote: > At 8:44 PM -0800 12/1/2010, Jonas Lopez wrote: >> a minor wise point here - >> >> if you are ever in your car and a storm causes electric overhead wires to >> fall on the car and you can see sparks outside -- DO NOT MOVE, DO NOT GET >> OUT OF YOUR CAR - you are in no real danger provided your not a part of the >> ELECTRIC CIRCUIT > > Correct. > >> - the metal of your car is ELECTRIFIED but the tires will prevent it from >> burning since they act as a nice insulator. > > Incorrect. The tires are not made of pure rubber. They are made from a > blend of rubber, synthetics, metallics, etc. Then there are those pesky > steel belts. IOW, your tires are *great* conductors. They are (luckily!) NOT > insulators. > Incorrect, tires are not "great" conductors, they are POOR conductors, what we in the trade would call "Resistors".
> You don't get electrocuted, as long as you're inside the car, because the > current is passing thru the metal chassis, thru the tires, to ground. Some > of the current is going thru you, but it's a trivial amount, as electricity > prefers the better route - thru the tires to ground. It doesn't matter whether the car frame is insulated or grounded, it's a Faraday cage (more or less) so the current (if the car is grounded) passes around you and the voltage (if the car is insulated) is equi-potential all around you so there is no voltage across your body. > >> The way out of this is NOT TO STEP OUT as that will complete the electrical >> circuit and you will be toast. > > Correct. If you were to step out of the car, while still in contact with the > chasis, then the current would use you as the better route to ground. That > would be bad. > >> BUT if you can jump out BEING SURE YOUR TOTALLY IN THE AIR then you can exit >> the car with no problems. > > But to take that flying leap... Current jumps at the rate of about 10,000 > volts per inch. You better clear the car completely, *and* all the wet > pavement, by quite a bit... This is totally not recommended. The best thing > to do is just sit tight until the power is turned off. > Agreed. The only time jumping might be recommended is if something worse is about to happen. Clark Martin Redwood City, CA, USA Macintosh / Internet Consulting "I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway" -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
