When lightening hits the ocean, why doesn't the entire ocean become a field of electricity?
448566
Because the ocean is fricking huge.  The electricity dissipates.  So if you happen to be swimming nearby, you'll probably get fried a bit, but if you're miles away, you won't even notice.
1071764
it would travel the same 2 inches that separate the prongs on the stun-baton. salty water is perfect conductor of electricity.\n\nif you want to achieve the effect of lightning striking the ocean, you would have to find a way to stick only one prong of stun-baton into the water.\n\nif you want to get some fish, you can stick two electodes into the water like 10 yeards apart, and connect them to a better source of electricity (like welding arc generator). But then again, TNT is easier.
222156
Principally yes, lightning will split water, but not through electrolysis but because of the heat.\n\nAssuming your array of lightning rods will attract a lightning, you will need to transform that high voltage into the millivolt region you need for electrolysis, and keep it coming for quite some time since electrolysis is an equilibrium process. In short, you need to store electrical lightning energy, which is so difficult nobody (except Frankenstein :) has produced a workable solution.\n\nHarnessing the thermal energy of the lightning on the other end of the lightning rod would be tricky, too - if the resistance is too high, the lightning rod wouldn't attract the lightning, if it is too low, the thermal energy won't be released where you want it.\n\nStatic electricity discharges generally are unsuitable when you want a current, otherwise someone would have built generators using piezo elements long ago.
514052
Lightening has been harnessed for research. People send up a rocket with a wire cable attached to it and the lightening runs down the cable to the ground.\n\nIt's not being commercialy harvested because the actual current in the bolt is not worth harvesting.
1123936
the lightning actually starts in the ground from static electricity...I always thought it was odd starting from ground...
514416
The correct answer is yes it can.\n\nIn a thunder or cumulonimbus cloud the warm air rises and the cold air sinks, this movement of air causes a huge difference in the electrical distribution with the top of the cloud having a positive charge and the bottom having a negative charge.  A positive charge also builds up on the earths surface.\n\nEventually these charges built to such an extent that there is an electrical discharge from the negative charge at the base of the cloud towards the positive charge at the top of the cloud and also down to the positive charge on the ground.\n\nWhat actually happens is that the first discharge travels towards earth in short but very rapid bursts of about 100 meter lengths - when you see jagged strokes of lightening this is because each burst can change direction.  As it gets closer to earth the strength of the electrical field intensifies until contact is made with the earth.\n\nThis initial discharge is only a weak stroke of lightening and is called the Leader Stroke.  As soon as contact is made there is a much more powerful stroke of lightening which travels from the earth back to the cloud and this is the lightening we see, this is called the Return Stroke.
315912
Other than direct discharges from lightning, fluctuations in the magnetic field can generate currents in the electrical grid.  This happens as a result of solar activity such as solar wind and flares bombarding the Earth's magnetic field causing it to flex.\n\nLong distance transmission lines are especially vulnerable to this as their length is enough to act as a generator from the magnetic changes.  Grids can shut down and transformers have been melted  due to power surges generated by strong solar storms.
138725
You're right--lightning is just a spark. BUT it's a spark caused by massive voltage. Voltage can be defined as a difference in electrical potential between two points, with one point having a high negative electrical charge, the other a high positive electrical charge. This difference in electrical potential can become enormous when a thunderstorm gets going full force.\n\nRain and/or hail in the storm clouds are violently rubbed together by high-velocity winds, thus building up a net negative electrical charge (abundance of electrons). On the ground below the clouds no such action takes place, thus the ground has a net positive electrical charge (deficiency of electrons).\n\nEven though air is a very good insulator, the difference in electrical potential (voltage) between the storm clouds and ground can quickly reach as high as 500,000 volts, more than enough to produce a lightning "spark."
266957
The PHYSICAL PHENOMENON here is called ELECTROSTATIC SHIELDING!\n\nIt says that electrostatic field inside a hollow metal conductor is ZERO! \nThe field will be zero even if the conductor encloses a charge!\n\nHere the CAR can be considered as the conductor,\nSo! even if there is  a million volts of lightning outside! You are safe inside!\nThanks- Hope I helped\nPeace!
757146
Lightning is one of the oldest observed natural phenomena on earth. At the same time, it also is one of the least understood. While lightning is simply a gigantic spark of static electricity (the same kind of electricity that sometimes shocks you when you touch a doorknob), scientists do not have a complete grasp on how it works, or how it interacts with solar flares impacting the upper atmosphere or the earth's electromagnetic field.\nLightning has been seen in volcanic eruptions, extremely intense forest fires, surface nuclear detonations, heavy snowstorms, and in large hurricanes. However, it is most often seen in thunderstorms.At any given moment, there can be as many as 2,000 thunderstorms occurring across the globe. This translates to more than 14.5 MILLION storms each year. NASA satellite research indicated these storms produce lightning flashes about 40 times a second worldwide.This is a change from the commonly accepted value of 100 flashes per second which was an estimate from 1925. Whether it is 40, 100, or somewhere in between, we live on an electrified planet.\n\nThe Sound of Thunder\nRegardless of whether lightning is positive or negative, thunder is produced the same way. Thunder is the acoustic shock wave resulting from the extreme heat generated by a lightning flash. Lightning can be as hot as 54,000°F (30,000°C), a temperature that is five times the surface of the sun! When lightning occurs, it heats the air surrounding its channel to that same incredible temperature in a fraction of a second.\n\nLike all gases, when air molecules are heated, they expand. The faster they are heated, the faster their rate of expansion. But when air is heated to 54,000°F in a fraction of a second, a phenomenon known as "explosive expansion" occurs. This is where air expands so rapidly that it compresses the air in front of it, forming a shock wave similar to a sonic boom. Exploding fireworks produce a similar result.\n\nWhat is the difference between a thundershower and a thunderstorm?  \nTechnically, there is none. In general, the term "thundershower" tends to denote a fairly weak storm with light to moderate rainfall and low levels of lightning activity. However, there are no defined parameters that distinguish between a thundershower and a thunderstorm. In fact, in order to avoid confusion, we in the National Weather Service do not use the term "thundershower". If a shower is strong enough to produce lightning, even just one single bolt, it's called a thunderstorm.\n\nTo Learn More about Lightning and Thunder go to \nhttp://www.srh.weather.gov/jetstream/lightning/lightning_intro.htm\n\nLIGHTNING SAFETY A MUST READ\nLightning is the MOST UNDERRATED weather hazard. On average, only floods kill more people. Lightning makes every single thunderstorm a potential killer, whether the storm produces one single bolt or ten thousand bolts.\n\nIn the United States, lightning routinely kills more people each year than tornadoes and hurricanes COMBINED. Tornadoes, hail, and wind gusts get the most attention, but only lightning can strike outside the storm itself. Lightning is the first thunderstorm hazard to arrive and the last to leave.\n\nLightning is one of the most capricious and unpredictable characteristics of a thunderstorm. Because of this, no one can guarantee an individual or group absolute protection from lightning. However, knowing and following proven lightning safety guidelines can greatly reduce the risk of injury or death. Remember, YOU are ultimately responsible for your personal safety, and should take appropriate action when threatened by lightning.\n\nWhile no place is 100% safe from lightning, some places are much safer than others.\nWhere to Go Where NOT to Go \nThe safest location during a thunderstorm is inside a large enclosed structure with plumbing and electrical wiring. These include shopping centers, schools, office buildings, and private residences.\n\nIf lightning st
1048978
Doubtul.  The earth's magnetic field simply isn't that strong.  If it were, it would overwhelm any electronic devices on earth due to induced current.  While overall it's strong enough to protect us from harm from the solar wind and other nasty charged particles in space, it's not strong enough to harness locally for any useful work.
864979
The speed of the propagation of the electric field within a wire is limited by the speed of light.  Information cannot travel faster than light, so if you switched on a light bulb millions of miles away it would take a very noticeable lag before you see the light come on.\nFirst the electricity must travel down the wire at a speed no faster than c, then the light emitted by the bulb must return at c.\n\nIt is important to note that although the influence of the electric field propagates at the speed of light, the electrons making up the electric current do not travel this fast themselves since they have mass.  The individual electrons in the current carrying wire travel much more slowly.  The electrons that go "into" one end of the wire are not the same electrons that "come out" of the other end.
227733
There is already a device that can collect electrical discharges, made earlier in the turn of the century, they are called leyden jars, Modern day terminology call these devices Capacitors or battery. The innovation from the leyden jars to the rechargeable battery took centuries to develop. The reason why they do not build massive structures for the purpose you described is because simply that lightning is an uncontrollable energy source. its random unexpected occurrence, its unstable and erratic voltage potentials makes it very dangerous and an inefficient source of stable energy. Perhaps why electromagnetic generators are built and are still being used as of today to supply a more controllable source of electrical energy. Its flexibility of use with hydro-electrical plants, wind farms, and fossil fuel plant, make the electrostatic generators more advantageous to deal with than lightning alone in producing electricity.\n\nOther alternative energy to consider are nuclear, solar, hydrgen fuel cells, and geo-thermal energy.\n~meow
940583
No, I can't because I don't have psychic power, but I can take a guess: lots and lots of buildings on land and under the sea; electricity comes from current of the ocean; using a oxygen filter, people can swim without getting drowned; some of the animals will probably extinct; the weather is hotter, less rainy, which is assuaged by artificial rain.\nThat's all I can think of for now.
1019106
Sorry folks but several of you are wrong.  Blue light has a shorter wavelength than other light, hence it is more energetic.  All other wavelengths get absorbed as one descends into the depths of the ocean.  Finally the only light illuminating ones surroundings is blue!
1139758
Yes, it could and we will harness this form of power in the future.\nHowever, please remember that lightning is used by nature as a means of providing food for the soil bacteria with nitrites and nitrates. Like anything else, if we become greedy and harness all the energy, we may create environmental problems, such as food production. This is in parallel with harnessing water in a river, and then holding up all the water to generate electricity and not let other creatures that depend on the water flow have that water.
574514
Salt water can conduct electricity because there are ions in it. Na+ and Cl- from the salt.\nSee http://www.scienceaid.co.uk/salt.html for more