What Happens When Lightning Strikes a Plane?

As we all know, lightning strikes are very dangerous. It splits trees, kills people, and permanently damages most things. When it comes to airplanes, things get even more confusing.

So in a possible disaster scenario? What happens to the plane?

If a plane is struck by lightning, many people think that the plane will instantly burst into flames and crash to the ground.

But most of the time, lightning does not have such an effect. So that a plane It continues to operate normally even after a lightning strike. In fact, lightning occurs in clouds.

While planes pass through the clouds, becomes the target of these lightning strikes. It is also the structure of the aircraft that causes lightning strikes. That’s why planes are designed to withstand strong lightning strikes so as not to endanger the safety of people inside.

On the other hand, it is actually a simple law of physics that protects planes in the sky from very powerful lightning.

In 1836, British scientist Michael Faraday discovered that the excess charge of a charged conductor was found not only outside the conductor, but also Observes that the conductor does not affect the substance inside it.

To prove this, he designed a room covered with metal foil and named it Faraday cage. When this cage is exposed to an electric field, In response to this, negatively charged electrons on its surface move.

Thus, one side of the cage becomes negatively charged and the other side becomes positively charged, and in the cage, opposite to the electric field acting on the surface and an electric field is created that cancels it out.

Again, the feature of this cage is to ensure that the thing placed inside is not affected by the electrical field applied from the outside.

Applications of Faraday cages are more diverse than we might expect. For example, microwave ovens, It has a metal shell that prevents the waves inside the furnace from leaking into the environment. has.

The Faraday cage is also seen in hospitals. An MRI room must be protected. Otherwise, external electromagnetic fields, eIt may distort the diagnostic images obtained.

In summary, you do not need to be afraid of a possible lightning strike while on an airplane. Airplanes designed with the Faraday cage technique, It protects you and the plane against the harmful effects of lightning.

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