Can Lightning Electrocute You In The Bathtub?
- Thread starter Mr Light
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When I lived in a rural area temporarily as a young adult, people would refuse to use the telephone during thunder storms for fear of electrocution. This sounded like another old folk belief to me, but I never looked into it. (Growing up in suburbia, nobody ever said anything like that.)
There was a Mythbusters episode which I think showed that unless you got faulty wiring outside -- really the only source for ightening to get int -- the wiring is made to groudn the house so it won't get in.
I'm sure lighting could probably short out your phone, but phones are generally made of plastic, so I can't really see them causing much damage to you. Maybe make a loud noise and damage your hearing?
My mom was under the impression the electricity would travel through the pipes in the ground to the drain to the bath water. She also harped about using the phone in a lightning storm... even after we got cordless phones!!! She's not exactly a credible source
The copper water pipes in the ground would instantly ground out the lightning strike. That's how a "ground" works, it's also why grounds are copper wires.
But not all water pipes are copper. And besides...copper is a good conductor of electricity. That's why grounds are made of copper - the electricity goes so readily through it. So the fact that pipes are made of copper is no comfort at all.
Lightening's tricky stuff. The (U.S.) National Weather Service, for example - which describes lightening as "the most underrated weather hazard," by the way - warns against all that stuff that everybody here has kind of snickered at, including advising people to stay away from "corded telephones" and avoid taking a shower or bath: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/lightning/lightning_safety.htm
So it might sound silly, but apparently it's not. Here's another quote from the NWS: "In the United States, lightning routinely kills more people each year than tornadoes and hurricanes COMBINED." I imagine the last thought of a lot of those people has been, "Oh, this isn't dangerous" right before they find out that, by golly, it is.
Lightening's tricky stuff. The (U.S.) National Weather Service, for example - which describes lightening as "the most underrated weather hazard," by the way - warns against all that stuff that everybody here has kind of snickered at, including advising people to stay away from "corded telephones" and avoid taking a shower or bath: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/lightning/lightning_safety.htm
So it might sound silly, but apparently it's not. Here's another quote from the NWS: "In the United States, lightning routinely kills more people each year than tornadoes and hurricanes COMBINED." I imagine the last thought of a lot of those people has been, "Oh, this isn't dangerous" right before they find out that, by golly, it is.
Ahem.
My mom was under the impression the electricity would travel through the pipes in the ground to the drain to the bath water. She also harped about using the phone in a lightning storm... even after we got cordless phones!!! She's not exactly a credible source
I have always heard that you don't want to run appliances OR be taking a bath during a thunderstorm...and for similar reasons to what JK just outlined.
Well, for beginers, water isn't all that fantastic a conductor.
Secondly, you'd need something near the metal (condiuctive) parts of the tub that's also connected to the internal components of the house -namely the wiring to carry the current to the bathroom and the pipes to carry the current into the tub.
And then your tub's pipes would have to be made of metal. In modern construction the drain pipes are likely to be made of PVC and the conduit connecting the faucet taps to the copper mains made of braided rubber hose.
It took the Mythbusters quite a bit of hurtles to jump to make this occur and it took faulty wiring being improperly located near the metal pipes of the shower to get a result.
So it's "possible" but very, very unlikely.
Not to mention the extraordinairy chances of a house even getting struck by lightning in the first place.
Secondly, you'd need something near the metal (condiuctive) parts of the tub that's also connected to the internal components of the house -namely the wiring to carry the current to the bathroom and the pipes to carry the current into the tub.
And then your tub's pipes would have to be made of metal. In modern construction the drain pipes are likely to be made of PVC and the conduit connecting the faucet taps to the copper mains made of braided rubber hose.
It took the Mythbusters quite a bit of hurtles to jump to make this occur and it took faulty wiring being improperly located near the metal pipes of the shower to get a result.
So it's "possible" but very, very unlikely.
Not to mention the extraordinairy chances of a house even getting struck by lightning in the first place.
Yeah, I never bought it anyway. I've showered in lightening and I'm still here. I also pee in the shower. ;-)
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^^ Hmmm, I don't know, Trekker - the NWS is a pretty good source (dare I say, as good as Myth Busters? 
). I don't think the NWS is saying that water is a great conductor; I think it's saying it's a conductor, and during a lightening storm, it's a good idea to avoid things that conduct electricity. I mean, if you're stuck in the middle of the ocean or something, that's one thing, but sheesh, if you can manage it, why not avoid it? It's not like that bath can't wait a few minutes. And the phone call usually can as well, although there are exceptions.
). I don't think the NWS is saying that water is a great conductor; I think it's saying it's a conductor, and during a lightening storm, it's a good idea to avoid things that conduct electricity. I mean, if you're stuck in the middle of the ocean or something, that's one thing, but sheesh, if you can manage it, why not avoid it? It's not like that bath can't wait a few minutes. And the phone call usually can as well, although there are exceptions.
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^^ Hmmm, I don't know, Trekker - the NWS is a pretty good source (dare I say, as good as Myth Busters?
Will ocean water, having salt in it, is a better conductor than fresh water or even tap water (which, granted, has metals and other stuff in it that could make it a better conductor.)
It's one of those things that's "better safe than sorry." But the fears of doing it are overblown. There's signs posted all over the gas-pump, too, to not use a cell-phone, re-enter the vechile, or leave the car running but the chance of causing an explosion in all of those cases are either slim or require the right conditions.
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"Mythbusters" also showed it's impossible to set off a gas pump with a cellphone. But static electricity on the other hand...
"Mythbusters" also showed it's impossible to set off a gas pump with a cellphone. But static electricity on the other hand...
Which reminds me of the silliest fire I ever covered, back when I was a reporter. In California, which is where I lived in those days, you have to pump the gas by hand - those doohickies that keep the gas pumping without your hand there holding it are illegal. (At least they used to be, and I'm pretty sure they still are.) So this guy used his cigarette lighter to hold the pump on. Let me repeat that: His cigarette lighter.
So, of course, the lighter simultaneously slipped and clicked out a flame, the flame ignited the gas fumes, and the pump and the car went "FOOOOOOOOOOOM!" You could see the flames for miles, even though it was broad daylight. And when I got there, which was after the fire was out, the heat had actually melted part of the pump as well as the lights that were overhead. The plastic had dripped down, like chocolate syrup on a banana split.
His cigarette lighter. Jeez.
You don't see warnings about that, however.
So, of course, the lighter simultaneously slipped and clicked out a flame, the flame ignited the gas fumes, and the pump and the car went "FOOOOOOOOOOOM!" You could see the flames for miles, even though it was broad daylight. And when I got there, which was after the fire was out, the heat had actually melted part of the pump as well as the lights that were overhead. The plastic had dripped down, like chocolate syrup on a banana split.
His cigarette lighter. Jeez.
You don't see warnings about that, however.
Mythbusters doesn't exactly use the best methods.
On topic, it probably depends alot on the age of the house and the methods used in the construction.
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