by game masta on May 22nd, 2006

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Why does lightning seem to strike the tallest objects?

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Answers. 3 helpful answers below.

by Thom64 on May 22nd, 2006
Electricity seeks the path of lowest resistance. Arcing to a tall (typically wet) thing usually has a much lower electrical resistance than arcing through the air to the ground.

Last time I read about it we were not entirely sure how electrical paths are "chosen" by lightning - speculation includs air ionized by cosmic rays or some such thing - but if that path comes close enough to a tall object it will be a preferred path.
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by billbloggs182 on September 6th, 2007
This is because lighting storms have the ability to create an electric field between the negative base of the cloud and the ground.
As explained before the negative charge in the cloud repels the negative charge in the ground leaving it primarily positively charged.
These areas act as parallel plates an cause an electric fields.
However, unlike conventional parallel plates the ground and the storm are not level and this allows the charge that is present in the ground collects in higher concentrations at the higher points.
The negative charges in the cloud are attacked to this collection of positive charge causes the cloud to dip downwards. This collection of negative charge then discharges directly to the high point where the positive charge as collected.
This can be explained using our knowledge of electric fields as we know that the higher the concentration of charge the stronger the electric field.
As he electric field is stronger it is easier it is for the built up charge to discharge making areas of higher elevation more susceptible to lightning strikes.
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- Bill, why don't mobile phone towers (or any other metal tower) get struck more often then? How do they insulate them?
  
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  by WildCoastAmbler on September 6th, 2007
- Tall objects, like mobile phone towers, have a lightning conductor which has a spike on top. In an electric storm, ions leak from the spipke - the spike sprays ions into the air which disippates the charge of the cloud. So lightning conductors actually REDUCE the frequency of lightning strikes. (but not entirely).
  
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  by Quirkie on May 12th, 2008
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by dedasded on May 12th, 2008
its because lightning is caused from proto-static reactions between ionised negative particles which induce an electrical current from the transorbitant atmosphere. taller objects would provide the electrical direction with a suitable host to divert the negative particles to an area that contains to the right sub-nuclei region that will help neutralise the negative charge.
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- proto-static? transorbitant? sub-nuclei? I've seen people invent fake explanations but you've invented a whole vocabulary too! Not funny.
  
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  by xprofessor on May 12th, 2008
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