Home > Science & Technology > Do you trust basic physics?

Do you trust basic physics?

October 23, 2007

We learned about a Faraday cage in physics, and we’ve all seen pictures of Nikola Tesla calmly smoking a pipe inside one while a zillion volts streams around him.  But how about your car.  Would it be a good enough Faraday cage?  Would you voluntarily sit inside it while it is being struck by lightning?  Watch while the really crazy guy from TopGear does exactly that.

Now fast-forward a few years.  Your car isn’t made of metal anymore…

Categories: Science & Technology
  1. October 23, 2007 at 16:11 | #1

    I would volunteer after a test run… but not on the first attempt.

  2. October 23, 2007 at 18:31 | #2

    I don’t think there’s much risk in a car with a steel body.  If it were a plastic body with a steel frame, less safe, and an all-plastic car would make you the best conductor in the circuit.

    Sure made a cool noise, didn’t it?

Comments are closed.