Faraday Cage
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Faraday Cage
Hi fellow Corvette lovers, I have a question about the lightning safety of Corvettes. Cars protect the people inside from lightning strikes, because the car forms a Faraday Cage around the people inside. Now the Corvette's body consists largely of fibreglass panels. Now my question is: does the Corvette still act as a Faraday Cage and protect people the people inside from lightning strikes?
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From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
I dont know but I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night.
Seriously I dont know and havent heard of that. For those like myself not in the know....
Seriously I dont know and havent heard of that. For those like myself not in the know....
Faraday cage
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Entrance to a Faraday roomA Faraday cage or Faraday shield is an enclosure formed by conducting material, or by a mesh of such material. Such an enclosure blocks out external static electrical fields. Faraday cages are named after physicist Michael Faraday, who built one in 1836.
An external static electrical field will cause the electrical charges within the conducting material to redistribute themselves so as to cancel the field's effects in the cage's interior. This effect is used, for example, to protect electronic equipment from lightning strikes and other electrostatic discharges.
To a large degree, Faraday cages also shield the interior from external electromagnetic radiation if the conductor is thick enough and any holes are significantly smaller than the radiation's wavelength. This application of Faraday cages is explained under electromagnetic shielding.
• Have questions? Find out how to ask questions and get answers. •From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Entrance to a Faraday roomA Faraday cage or Faraday shield is an enclosure formed by conducting material, or by a mesh of such material. Such an enclosure blocks out external static electrical fields. Faraday cages are named after physicist Michael Faraday, who built one in 1836.
An external static electrical field will cause the electrical charges within the conducting material to redistribute themselves so as to cancel the field's effects in the cage's interior. This effect is used, for example, to protect electronic equipment from lightning strikes and other electrostatic discharges.
To a large degree, Faraday cages also shield the interior from external electromagnetic radiation if the conductor is thick enough and any holes are significantly smaller than the radiation's wavelength. This application of Faraday cages is explained under electromagnetic shielding.
Last edited by cv67; Sep 4, 2007 at 08:44 AM.
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Joined: Mar 1999
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From: Bartlett Illinois
FWIW,
Marcho Polo a user/moderator here had an 85 vette. while he was on his way back from Bowling Green to home one year his car was struck by lightning. car died but both people were fine/unharmed
Marcho Polo a user/moderator here had an 85 vette. while he was on his way back from Bowling Green to home one year his car was struck by lightning. car died but both people were fine/unharmed
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From: Peoria Arizona.. Resident Gold Cylon
100% correct unless the occupants happen to be licking the antenna at the time of the strike. 
IMHO that would be faster than adding chlorine to the drivers and passenger gene pool.
Last edited by Goldcylon; Sep 4, 2007 at 02:01 PM.
Burning Brakes
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From: Omaha SomewhereinthemiddleofAmerica
St. Jude Donor '15
I don't know about the conductive properties of the c4, but I'd say that the odds of my blue getting struck by lightning are as likely as a 415 dropping out of the sky and into the engine bay....still, I'd like to think that (only) one of these could happen.
Burning Brakes
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From: Portsmouth VA
There is actually a (somehwhat) famous picture of a car being hit by a lightning bolt which clearly shows the electric discharge arcing from the rims to the ground.
But let's be honest. If this was a regular occurance, we'd all be getting struck everytime we drove in a thundershower. It's rare.
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Burning Brakes
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From: Austin TX
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Thanks for the answers, but cars do not protect people from lightning because of the rubber and tires and stuff. Unless the tires are about 20 miles thick.
The metal around the people function as a much better conductor of the lightning than the people, which is why the energy goes through the metal to the ground, without harming the occupants. But seeing as how I've never heard anyone else worried about this, I suspect GM has thought of this aspect and there would indeed be enough metal around to leave the Faraday cage intact.
The metal around the people function as a much better conductor of the lightning than the people, which is why the energy goes through the metal to the ground, without harming the occupants. But seeing as how I've never heard anyone else worried about this, I suspect GM has thought of this aspect and there would indeed be enough metal around to leave the Faraday cage intact.
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http://www.mos.org/sln/toe/cage.html
sort of says no; fiberglass cars and convertibles are not safe. So, GM must know Corvette drivers don't drive in the rain
sort of says no; fiberglass cars and convertibles are not safe. So, GM must know Corvette drivers don't drive in the rain
Last edited by Barbara_S; Sep 10, 2007 at 07:51 PM.
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To Barbara_S: Thanks for the link. And maybe you're right about GM and Corvettes not usually being driven in the rain he he. Although that's not gonna be so easy out here, since it does rain a lot.
To Cuis: It was a genuine wondering. I didn't really run across this, I remembered high school physics and combined that with the fact that Corvettes are fibreglass with a metal chassis. And well, we don't have a lot of thunderstorms around here, so I'm not really concerned, but it is something worth considering I thought.
Although that's not gonna be so easy out here, since it does rain a lot.To Cuis: It was a genuine wondering. I didn't really run across this, I remembered high school physics and combined that with the fact that Corvettes are fibreglass with a metal chassis. And well, we don't have a lot of thunderstorms around here, so I'm not really concerned, but it is something worth considering I thought.
