Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 19, 2026

Method for Recording Broadband High Resolution Emission Spectra of Laboratory Lightning Arcs
Published on: August 27, 2019
Lightning strikes at a mass gathering
D P Milzman1, L Moskowitz, M Hardel
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Providence Hospital, Washington, DC 20017, USA.
Abstract:
Among natural disasters, lightning is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. A well-informed bystander and an astute physician can make the difference between an outcome of death or lifelong disability versus complete or near-complete recovery. What is done in the first few minutes after such an event is the predominant predictor of success. This case report describes a young woman who was struck by lightning while talking on a cellular telephone at a mass gathering in an outdoor stadium. The discussion that follows the case centers on the pathophysiology of being struck by lightning and on issues unique to being struck in a stadium full of people.
Related Concept Videos
Equipotential Surfaces and Conductors
Electric Charges
The English physicist William Gilbert studied the phenomenon of static electricity in...
Energy Associated With a Charge Distribution
Electric Field of a Non Uniformly Charged Sphere
Consider a non-uniformly charged sphere, for which the density of charge depends only on the distance from a point in space and not on the direction. Such a sphere has a spherically symmetrical charge distribution. Here, the electric...
Charging Conductors By Induction
Generally, conductors like metals do not allow any excess charge to be present on them. Any excess charge added to metals easily flows away, for example, when a metal is placed on the Earth. This process is called earthing.
However, conductors can be charged by a process called induction. For example, consider charging a...
Instantaneous Power
