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Re: Physical mythology

At 4:40 PM -0800 2/6/01, Leigh Palmer, you wrote about Physical mythology:

Well, tell me, which kind of
lightning rod do you think is superior? What informed your opinion on
this topic, and at what age did you first learn the correct answer?
The inquiring mind wants to know.


PERHAPS pointed lightning rods are no more effective than spherically
ended ones. If so, I would expect that the UK would still be using
the spherical ones. (are they? why or why not?)

It MIGHT be just as silly to use points as it is for aero-engineers
to KEEP using the 'air-foil' wing shape while many great minds would
try to convince us that the Bernoulli Effect is irrelevant to
sub-sonic flight.

Ancient myths do indeed die hard!

My experience with the van de Graaf dome shows me that
sphere-to-sphere discharges are less frequent and much more 'fat'.
Point-to-point sparks are much more continuous and feeble. Is this
relevant to the thunderstorm generator??

I HAVE read that alpha-augmented pointed tips are not significantly
better than non-radioactive points as lightning protection. But alpha
doped points ARE often used in atmospheric measuring set-ups.

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Chuck Britton Education is what is left when
britton@ncssm.edu you have forgotten everything
North Carolina School of Science & Math you learned in school.
(919) 286-3366 x224 Albert Einstein, 1936