"Phil Morris" wrote in message thlink.net...
I'm simply Jax's warmup act here. I know absolutely nothing about
electricity but I have six questions for you:

1. Why doesn't lightning travel in a helical path since it does traverse a

magnetic field?

The only mag field it traverses is the field it produces. The mean
free path of the electrons is too low to allow any significant
helicity.

2. Since lightning is a plasma discharge why is it that magnetohydrodynamic
pinching doesn't occur?

Such pinching occurs when a plasma is trapped in a mag field. This is
not true with lightning as the mag field it produces loops around the
lightning path. There is some question of whether lightning is a
"plasma discharge (a discharge within a plasma)"

3. Does lightning have a magnetic field even though it doesn't travel in a
close loop? Why?

Of course it does. Moving charges (current) produce mag fields from
Int (b dot dl) = uI. This field is circumfrential to the current
path.

4. Can a conductor manifest Biot-Savart forces upon itself? If so why does
lightning hit the ground?

Yes it can, however the mean free path of the electrons as in most
conductors is such that these forces do not "add up" to significant
distortion of the path over the effect of the electric field.

5. What condition must exist between the E and H fields of charge in ball
lightning or electron clusters to maintain the high charge density?
Remember, like charges repel.


The mechanism responsible for ball lightning is not really known.
Some theories exist but they do not explain its stability for tens of
seconds and/or its obvious power density. Ball lightning should not
be stable according to known plasma physics. However, even in a
plasma (assuming the ball is a plasma unlike the regular lightning
streamer), maxwells equations must apply.

6. What is your favorite colour?

Is this a QM question?

Phil


"Scout" wrote in message
...
Phil,
Why do you make so many assumptions? Do you do this often? It's a
dangerous
habit and will only cause you embarrassment and heartache. Are you Jaxie
in
drag? Do you agree with a man who says electricity has nothing to do with
mathematics and in the same post uses math to describe the potential of
lightning?
You claim that "they're all fools here" - it seems to me that every post
has
pointed out the futility in such systems. Did I miss the post you refer
to?
The fact is that the science teacher claims no 'hidden' knowledge of
electricity, and said only that it follows strict rules of behavior. Would
you care to argue that point?
The science teacher never claimed to buy into lightning protection on a
boat, and therefore, has no such system, are you assuming otherwise? Do
you
see any post in which he defends these systems, or are his questions
merely
conversational in nature? Are you afraid of friendly discussion?
I'll discuss poetry OR electricity with you. You can begin, I'll respond.
Better yet, stick to posting your boring version of the truth in politics.
At least then you're easier to ignore.
Scout


"Phil Morris" wrote in message
link.net...
Jax,

They're all fools here. Some want to insulate their boat but the
ionization
potential renders insulation useless, let alone the effects of induced
currents; they want to inject ions in the vicinity of their boats, yet
to
create enough potential to neutralize lightning it would, in fact,
generate
enough potential to cause lightning from their own boats; because they
don't
understand lightning, electricity, or atmospheric electrodynamics, they
claim that lightning is magic - defies all physical laws; they want to
ground their boats to make it part of the lightning discharge
circuit -increasing the chances of getting struck!; the science teacher
claims some special, hidden knowledge of electricity, but yet is not
practiced in the art, he should stick to poetry. Ah yes the fools
suffer,
some even buy wonder products from the black magicians. God bless Iron
Joe
of the rusty Faraday cage! What doesn't get him in a thunder clap will
slowly rot out his hulk by electrolysis.

There's a simple method to reduce the chances of being struck by many
orders
of magnitude by towing a lightning distraction bouy. It's proven many
times
over.

Phil



"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
take a guess.