Question

Contrary to popular belief, lightening rods don’t really attract lightening strikes. How do they work?

Answer 1

A lightening rod is a pointed metal rod(about 2cm diameter) attached to the roof of a building. It connects to a huge piece of copper or aluminium that is an inch or so in diameter. The wire is connected to a conductive grid buried in the ground nearby. Lightening rod provides a low-resistance path to ground that can be used to conduct enormous electric current when lightening strike occurs.The system has capacity to handle enormous electric current associated with the strike. The lightening-rod system is an excellent conductor and thus allows the current to flow to the ground without causing any heat damage. So it offers the fire and structural damage protection. A lightening rod is a device that is meant to protect structures or bodies from lightning. As already known, the high potential difference between the ground and cloud creates a large electric field due to which the air and particles get ionized, causing lightning which is a high charge flow through the air.This flow of charge is meant to be conducted or pass through the lightning rod, which would otherwise flow from the building walls or the body causing a electric shock.