Lightning Rods

Lightning is indeed one of the more mysterious facets of nature. You have probably heard stories of people surviving being hit by lightning. You may also have heard stories of people getting hit by lightning more than once. And there really is no reputable explanation for this at present. Imagine being hit by thousands of volts and surviving! More than once! There really is no concrete explanation for this. But one thing remains true: even if there are people who have survived being hit by lightning, there’s no one in this world who would want to experience being hit by this force of nature. Even if there is a minute survival rate in the record books.

This is precisely why lightning rods have been invented. But what exactly is a lightning rod? And how do lightning rods work? And would lightning rod installation actually help thwart the electrifying effects of lightning?

You surely must have heard about Benjamin Franklin’s kite experiment and his study of lightning. Franklin believed that if lightning would strike a rod he had prepared and installed, the lightning would then take a path of minimum resistance towards the ground. In fact, the resistance here would be pegged at its very least. But in order for the experiment to succeed, the lightning rod has to be grounded. It is a good thing Benjamin Franklin came up with this concept because it is indeed a correct one. Lightning rods work this way indeed. And this concept is being used by a lot of people today.

Airports, for starters, incorporate the use of lightning rods for the safety of all flights. In fact, airports have what the call LPS, or Lightning Protection System. This LPS is aimed at giving lightning a preferred path from the point of interception all the way to its ground destination. There are actually several components of this LPS that airports employ. There may be variations among the many airports all over America. But the concept of safety is more or less the same. These components include the lightning rods, straps or wires, and ground rods. The lightning rods are sometimes termed as air terminals by certain airports. This is because they are the point of termination when the lightning in the air strikes them. The lightning’s path is terminated by the air terminals or lightning rods. The straps or wires come in vertical and horizontal arrangements. They run all the way from the lightning rods to the ground rods. The ground rods act as termination points for the lightning on the ground as well.

There is definitely a need for lightning rods for today’s buildings and other structures. You see, today’s buildings and structures are not made of just wood anymore. The structures just might contain a lot of things that can act as conductors of electricity. These things include steel, metal clad sidings, metal wires, copper water pipes, telephone wiring, cable TV wiring, and the like. And these are just some of the things that can be found in any structure or building today. And when lightning strikes the LPS set up, there just might be times when it would somehow energize these conductors. And these just might lead to casualties, unfortunately. In fact, there have been many cases when people who are on the phone end up getting electrocuted when lightning strikes the LPS of their structure. Lightning can be very unpredictable at times. Thus, the only thing one can do is to stay away from such conductors when a lightning storm is brewing. This holds true even for structures that have lightning rods, straps or wires, and ground rods. This way, your safety can be given more guarantee.