this post was submitted on 15 May 2024
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Fun fact! Lightning can't penetrate deep into large bodies of water and instead spreads over a larger surface area.
Funner fact! I have no idea if the above is true because I just made it up!
Trust no one on the internet.
by the time lightning hits the ground, the energy that’s left is minuscule enough to never penetrate through the surface of the ocean.
whatever you just made up, you’re completely right by pure chance! congratulations.
Wait so if you're in the ocean near a lightning strike you'll be fine?
theoretically, yeah.
in practice, i don’t think you should be swimming while there’s a thunderstorm going on
I trust you deeply despite never knowing you or understanding your research methods because your wild guess about physics seems reasonably believable on a surface level and I shall not endeavour to confirm whether or not you're actually correct, but spread it to others with misplaced confidence!
From what I know that is somewhat true, the current will disperse through the water relatively uniformly. But it'll still create voltage gradients that will probably kill any fish nearby.