History of the Lightning Rod: How the Lightning Rod was Invented and Terrified & Offended People

How did Benjamin Franklin invent the lightning rod? How does the lightning rod work? And how in the world could a piece of metal scare or offend anyone? Watch this entertaining video and find out!
As usual, thanks to Kim Nalley for the lovely music.

[@SqueeDee]

I don't know how I've missed your channel for so long. You're great and I've started binge watching from the very beginning!

[@pixxelwizzard]

How have I never heard *any* of these stories. You have a gift for boiling the information down to its most interesting parts and keeping me captivated. Love it!

[@zes3813]

wrr, cepuxyuax, any s infix interestx

[@vk2ig]

Stories like these are often included in entry level physics or electrical engineering texts, as they help relate what may seem like an abstract concept to a real world experience that the student can relate to.

[@peternolan814]

Helo Kathy, I'm nearly 70 and I learned so much from this video about the history of the lightning rod that I didn't know. I have been watching KZbin videos about Franklin's bell also. All the best and many thanks, 🙂 Peter Nolan. Ph.D.(physics). Dublin. Ireland.

[@timothydavy968]

As a scientific amateur I wonder why so little about the history of science was taught in science classes at school, I think more people would have connected with science if it was

[@kylezo]

This is one of those "after the fact" observations that seems simple but isn't practically possible. In reality, there's far too much information to learn to indulge in too much anecdotal waxing in lieu of focused lessons. I think the problem is closer described by how hesitant people are to read. These stories are everywhere, but nobody actually seems interested in them during their school years. Beyond this, I agree that a little more cultural anecdotes within otherwise dry subject matter can go a long way to improve science communication and education.

[@jaybingham3711]

The 'why not' was broached in the story: religion. The subject matter is teachable without the history. And that's convenient. No need to bring up uncomfortable issues if they otherwise can be avoided. That sentiment remains today. It's why critical thinking isn't taught as a formal area of study throughout the formative years. It's one thing to be practicable about having your God's purported powers so irrefutably undermined. It's quite another thing to just rollover and not at least put up a fight. That fight has never gone away. And it's been picking up steam over recent decades with the relgious right's attack on course curriculum and their attempts, not unsurprisingly, to rewrite history.

[@jacoblf]

Because most history teachers are sleep including lecturers.

[@bombadeer8231]

My father an electrical engineer said many buildings burnt down following a lightning 🌩 strike to a lightning rod. Apparently a wire large enough to carry that amount of current to ground was rarely used.

[@mischeviouslingo8065]

The lightning strike is such high voltage that it jumps out of the wire like Tesla coil fingers. Unlike Tesla coils it has amps behind it making it deadly. Ground wires were not properly insulated. 600K volts and more wear as standard wire insulation is rated at 600 volts.

[@dahawk8574]

5:32 - I think it would be good to cut Ben some slack here. If we were to fly kites or balloons or something up a lot higher than he envisioned his lightning rods to be, then clouds COULD be drained of their charge. Viola. No more lightning. But alas, his version of the invention was sufficient to prevent the "mischief", so I haven't heard of anyone trying to accomplish this grander goal of preventing lightning altogether. But it should be easy enough to do if anyone cared to. And Franklin is well deserving of credit for this idea. Yet ANOTHER amazing video in this most excellent vid series. HUGE congrats, Kathy. Very nicely done.

[@eliasdoty]

There tends to be a fair amount of wind involved in conjunction with lightening storms, that could pose a problem for high-flying lightening-rod balloons or kites.

[@dahawk8574]

@@eliasdoty, there are companies dedicated to generating electricity from wind. Google itself was so heavily invested that they _bought_ one such company, Makani, with plans to use high flying kites to get the power. Watts up, literally. I expect there were people there who would have considered a lightning strike to be a bonus boost in power. Certainly the stronger wind was something they sought to take advantage of.

[@eliasdoty]

@@dahawk8574 That’s awesome, if only Mr. Franklin could see that now!

[@dahawk8574]

@@eliasdoty, for sure. He's got to make the short list of Greatest Founders. To have played such an important role in the creation of the USA ... and then on top of that to have been so key in the story of how humanity came to tame electricity. (See what I did thar.) Maybe Lin-Manuel Miranda would like to take him on as the central figure for his next play. I'd just want to hear The Kite Song... _"I am not throwin' away my bolt!"_

[@goodmaro]

No, it turns out you could never get an efficient enough collector to drain any significant percentage of the charge from a cloud. When a portion of the cloud discharges, that sets up an immediate counter-flow by induction that effectively cuts off the rest of the cloud. Because of the potentials involved, the charge is quickly restored by induction.

[@CharlesM-dp4xe]

I've always loved the Franklin stories most of all. When abroad in France, he was known as quite the lady's man in the brothels, what a fun period in history but ... he wasn't always very successful in his affairs of the heart. My aunt; a Victorian proper Irish Catholic, born in the late 1800s actually owned an original Franklin stove she inherited from her grandmother. I remember cleaning that thing during my summertime visits. Although small comparing to others from that time period it was still a beast. That was about 70 years ago ! Thank you .

[@Thisandthat8908]

it went out of fashion after a while because it was so complicated and didn't improve things enough.

[@CharlesM-dp4xe]

@@Thisandthat8908 It's hard to believe now but those things were considered as portable back in the day. Once you've moved one I bet you laugh and questioningly retort ... Portable ? You gotta be kidding me !

[@Darthvanger]

33k views. This stuff is really a secret LOL! This is the most interesting stuff I've seen in my life (binge watched episodes 1-10). I'm very happy and proud to become a part of this small secret society!

[@Kathy_Loves_Physics]

Thanks- and hopefully the small secret society won’t be small for long.

[@ruwanweerakkody5411]

The presentation, pace, content, images, and video length is perfect!

[@MrBanzoid]

Isaac Asimov wrote an essay called The Fateful Lightning published in the June 1969 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, aliso published in The Stars in their Courses in 1971 and in The Edge of Tomorrow in 1985. It's a good story in Asimov's typical style.

[@Tmanaz480]

Good example that even a genius can chase down an incorrect hypothesis. I wish folks would realize this about Tesla.

[@willisfouts4838]

You’ve got a knack, Miss Kathy, no doubt. Do you like coffee and extended discussions after supper, lol. Seriously, you explain well that which piques your interests. Great job, my friend, from these early videos through to your most recent ones.

[@billallen275]

Thank you, Ben Franklin is one of my heroes

[@larryniidji]

This old electronic/computer/network tech loves your historical stories and you have brought more knowledge and understanding to me. Though retired, electricity is still an everyday involvement, while most is volunteering my skills.

[@shenandoahmike3915]

Let us not forget those wonderful rods also spread out the ground charge of a feeler that reaches up to complete the circuit in a lightning strike, a fact that farmers have understood for over a hundred years. But still a very good post all the same. Nice job.

[@goodmaro]

About 20 years ago I was with a friend where a women's football game (New York Sharks) was about to start, when a strong thunderstorm came up as we entered from the parking lot via the ticket booth. (I think we wound up getting in free under the circumstances.) We were getting drenched, but rather than head directly to get under the metal stands, I went onto the field that was surrounded by 4 identical lighting towers. I explained later to my friend that within that symmetric shape we'd be completely safe not only from direct lightning strike, but also from ground currents should the towers be struck. With all the towers at the same height, there would be zero potential difference horizontally within that space. Meanwhile places just outside that ring of towers would be subject to ground currents in case of lightning. I've had trouble convincing people since then that sports fields arranged like that are safe from lightning. I've wanted to make a small model and show that I could get sparks to discharge to the pins but never to the space between them. I'd also like to be able to show the absence of lateral current between the bases of the pins. I've just never had the equipment.

[@Polarcupcheck]

Interesting.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

I don’t think the behaviour of lightning is quite that deterministic.

[@goodmaro]

@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 That's why some day I want to model that setup.

[@maximillianmulhern4753]

Hi, This is great and informative stuff. Did Franklin ever do drawings or diagrams of his concepts and models of electricity?

[@Kathy_Loves_Physics]

He drew drawings of his experiments but never of theory.

[@mnada72]

Thank you for these lovely information

[@nemovidet2111]

Franklin was the leader of the Philadelphia Volunteer fire department. The work with electricity motivated his practical interest leading to the installation of lightning rods on public buildings.

[@5Andysalive]

he co-founded it. As he did public libraries and other stuff. He wan'T the leader as in "he went out to fight fires".

[@unclemarksdiyauto]

I am becoming a history buff, or at least the history Kathy is teaching us!

[@Tmanaz480]

Ben ran into the same resistance to his volunteer fire company. People thought they shouldn't fight a fire if it was started by lightning.

[@PadraigTomas]

Citation?

[@dbmail545]

There is a Mark Twain story about a person oversold on lightning rods who mounted so many on his house that when the first thunderstorm came over it, the house got so many lightning strikes it sounded like an artillery barrage.

[@Trucmuch]

As funny as it is and as clever as Mark Twain is, this is a misconception. A large number of lightning rods does not create more lightning strikes. It's like thinking you can get more wine from a single bottle if you have a lot of glasses.

[@brucesekulic5443]

The amusing ‘incidentals’ make these tellings a delight 🙂

[@sheilasugar5269]

I just subbed to your channel. Great info!

[@Kathy_Loves_Physics]

Sheila Sugar so glad you liked it

[@tarcisiorodrigues9244]

The overall approach was really great! The way you hint at Galvani in the end and connected it all with Franklin was very beatiful.

[@JuanCLeal]

How could the lightning rod offend anyone? In 2022, this truly doesnt surprise me at all.

[@jamesslick4790]

Especially 5G lightning rods! 😜

[@PadraigTomas]

Unlike Google lightning rods don't listen in on your phone conversations.

[@wyrenchangedname3709]

And unlike you, we actully watched the video, @JuanCLeal

[@NormReitzel]

Here in Texas we still get God-o-philes who have a fit about lightning rods. Go figure.

[@marcusdirk]

Yet Franklin writing in his almanack "It has pleased God in his Goodness to Mankind..." sounds like a God-o-phile himself!

[@nycbearff]

The only other place I've read about the religious objections to lightning rods was in "History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom", by Andrew Dickson White, published in 1894. It's a great example of theology eventually giving way to science and practicality.

[@djg585]

A fun read is Mark Twain's short story "Political Economy" about a lot of lightning rods put on one house. No spoilers here, just go read it.

[@timothydavy968]

Among quite a proportion of people being ignorant of science is a badge of honour,a status symbol as high as suffering from multiple perceived food allergies or some other. aversion to modern life

[@ronstill3868]

" Pennsylvania state house" aka independence hall. Still has the lighting rods.

[@welshpete12]

Very well done !

[@powerguy3737]

Love this stuff! Great work. I'm a generator tech and love anything about electricity. Also an atheist so I really get a kick out of the history of science destroying the church.

[@depluribusunum3128]

The area (radius) protected by a tower or rod is 3 times the height.

[@indmych]

Well done and at the epicenter of my interests! Thanks! Do you (or anyone) have any pointers for me about a fire in an english prison in the 1700s that involved some lightning rod controversy? I can't remember where I read this and my internet searches haven't helped.

[@shubangimali5565]

I am in love with your channel I was thinking how must have electricity been evolved. There is a good documentary by BBC "shock and Awe"

[@Kathy_Loves_Physics]

So glad you like the channel. I watched some of the documentary but got really mad about his many small inaccuracies that I couldn't finish it (I think I know too much). I was like a lawyer watching a TV courtroom drama yelling "I object".

[@jmchez]

@@Kathy_Loves_Physics I feel your pain. The famous writer, Michael Crichton, coined the term, "The Gell-Mann Amnesiac effect" after reading a newspaper once and noticing how much misinformation is out there.. Crichton read a story about physics that he found very interesting. He, then read a story about movie financing that he thought was very inaccurate and nonsensical. The surprise came when Crichton heard that the famous physicist, Murray Gell-Mann, had read the same newspaper issue. Gell-Mann told a number of people how he had read the story about movie financing and found it very interesting but the story about physics was inaccurate and nonsensical. Crichton coined the term because he thought that we , often, read a story from a source and have enough information to discount it but others, that lack our expertise, can't. The problem is how we develop amnesia and forget how the source is not entirely trustworthy and continue reading other stories expecting them to be accurate. Moral of the story; always look for independent (totally independent) sources that back up anything you hear or read. That's the basis of the scientific method.

[@mischeviouslingo8065]

Ahem, I have heard that the lightning rod acts to drain the build up of ions at the peaks and corners where the wind would normally ionize the surface of the structure. It effectively hides the building by making the top the same potential as the ground, minimizing the difference in potential that makes a lightning strike likely. It does not drain the cloud of electricity, it drains the building of charge.

[@jpopelish]

Also a cloud is not really very conductive until after a discharge begins. So, discharging a very close part of it really does not drain the whole cloud, as it would, with his metal coated pipe.

[@darylcheshire1618]

I read at the start of The Revolution, the King was so annoyed at Benjamin that he removed the lightening rods off his palaces.

[@PadraigTomas]

The King was a fool.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

Lightning rods must have seemed great, back in the day when people didn’t have anything else resembling electrical cabling in their houses. Nowadays, we have to watch out for transient induced currents in any nearby wiring. Electronics (e.g. networking equipment) is particularly vulnerable to this. You can suffer some expensive damage during a lightning strike, even without a direct hit.

[@jeffcampsall5435]

Apparently, not only does lightning strike a lightning rod because of its height (closer to the clouds) but the charge of the clouds/lightning attract the opposite charge UP the rod ...which in turn attracts the lightning TO the rod.

[@johnnicholson8811]

One thing with the churches being struck, some had gunpowder stored in them. There goes the town.

[@falcychead8198]

It's great that people are so much more sensible these days.

[@bleirdo_dude]

Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Serotonin Father and of the Oxytocin Son and of the Holy Dopamine Ghost via Placebo Faith,". 🧠👉🙏👉🧠👉🤪= 😇🧠👻

[@alcosta3029]

I love your channel!

[@Kathy_Loves_Physics]

I love that you love my channel (if that’s not too meta). K

[@klocugh12]

Nature finds its way to be ironic with "ill-repute buildings" struck by lightning being churches. Reminds me that earthquake in Lisbon in 1755 managed to spare brothels, while destroying churches as well.

[@SciHeartJourney]

😂 You know that dude who made a chamber pot with Franklin's picture was a "player hater". 🤣

[@Kathy_Loves_Physics]

Ha! You are so right.

[@melinda5777]

How would you ground a Sailboat? I know how Navy ships are grounded, but not sailboats. Thanks in advance.

[@Thisandthat8908]

It's amazing that Franklin, who was quite a capable (and rich) businessman refused to patent his inventions. fascinating man. Shame he is (scientifically) kinda reduced to the Kite-lightning story.

[@sidjoosin6549]

If only someone ask him "if there will be charge powerful enough to penetrate spark gap "from cloud to your roof" but no inch further - that lighting wouldn't strike there in the first place, so the best way for destruction - put recieving antenna in form of cross (to perpendicular by especially with rounded ends, and in form of cross, since electric current will induce perpendicular magnetic field which will induce perpendicular electric current,

[@praveenb9048]

Why are spikes fitted to the tops of lightning rods? It seems to me that spikes would only make sense if the idea was to bleed off charge from the clouds and help reduce the chance of a strike. If the rod is only useful in case of an actual strike, would those spikes really do anything?

[@Kathy_Loves_Physics]

That is an excellent question. Turns out, there is a lot of debate but what is the best shape for the top of lightning rods and my understanding is that it doesn’t actually matter so some are points, some are spheres some are multiple points. However you don’t want the top of the lightning rod to be too smooth as you do you want the lightning to strike the lightning rod and not the top of the building.

[@FelonyVideos]

The voltage on a conductor is inversely proportional to the radius. A pointy rod acts much better as a charge attractor.

[@claykarmel4730]

@@Kathy_Loves_Physics Love your channel, but I think you may be wrong about the operation of a lightning rod. A pointy conductor will have terrifically dense lines of flux. Think about magnetizing a needle and sprinkling metal filings around it. The field lines will be phenomenally dense near the point. When charges move past the lightning rod (clouds blown from wind), the moving charge induces current to ground. I=dQ/dt. The dense lines of flux provide good coupling. The area around a lightning rod will be at lower potential to ground, so lightning will prefer other locations where a plasma can form because of higher charge density. A good lightning rod doesn't take a 'direct hit' unless its ground wire gets broken or isn't sufficiently buried. You see that a lot on old buildings. The copper mesh ground wire on the barns we had growing up was often rotted just above ground level. Besides rods or spikes, 'fur balls' of conductive material are also very useful. Many spikes. Spheres would be abysmal as a lightning rod. Yes, I'm an electrical engineer, however, my training in lightning rods has more to do with hay fields and boats. ;-). My uncle drove a tractor, pulling a hay bailer, and me on a sled behind it. The sled ran on iron skids with iron strips that I stood on. My job was to stack the bales and then push them off with an iron 'bar'. Fortunately for me, the bar stood in an iron holder, mounted to the runners. The storm ran right overhead. The hair on the back of my neck rose (literally) and the lightning struck just up the hill. If the bar (lightning rod) was meant to attract the lightning, it probably would have. Sailboats carry 'fur ball' or pointy lightning rods which are coupled to the sacrificial zinc blocks on their exterior sub-surface hulls (to prevent corrosion from dissimilar metals on the boat, we salute Mr. Galvani by having the block of zinc corrode, instead). The 'point' being, sailboats with lightning rods are LESS likely to be struck -because- they instead dissipate the charge around the rod. Remember that for lightning to form, there has to be a tremendous potential, enough to literally rip the air into a plasma. If the cloud's charge isn't felt near the ground, it can't become a plasma. The lightning rod only needs to reduce the local potential a little bit to encourage the lightning to go elsewhere.

[@Fatumayata79]

Great video

[@tedlahm5740]

Confusion. Does it drain the charge or does it catch the bolt!

[@charlesachurch7265]

Have you heard of radioactive lightning rods? They ionise the air around them to encourage a strike.A bit like a meteorological shop steward

[@billyjoejimbob75]

Rockets that fire thin wire up to cause a strike are pretty neat.

[@qzorn4440]

o my... now to harness the power of lighting...🤔 any ideas or go fly a kite? 🙄🤪 thanks a lot, cool info. 🥰🙃🤱🤺🐅🍎

[@kirbyculp3449]

Seems that Franklin almost discovered the Orgone Energy.

[@PadraigTomas]

Further evidence of his brilliance. He avoided that blunder.

[@Rancid-Jane]

Odd that the peoples would not determine that an all powerful God would not be deterred from meting out punishment by a little metal rod.

[@T.C.-st8uz]

Go team!

[@tomhalla426]

The Currier and Ives print of thr kite experiment is deceptive. Franklin was only in his forties, and his son was twenty or so, not a small cnild.

[@ocelotMartinez]

Are you sipping wine while you record these?

[@delamr1]

Why don't houses have lightening rods on them now?

[@doncatch1]

I thought lightning rods reduced the potential of being struck?

[@PadraigTomas]

They reduce the potential of your building being destroyed or burnt down, and of people being injured or killed.

[@teodelfuego]

You are not wrong

[@raeline1983]

How did they not get zapped holding the needle?

[@Kathy_Loves_Physics]

The needle got zapped and the electricity flows through the person but at that level You wouldn’t feel it.

[@GalenMatson]

I love your videos but the song is a bit on the nose, don't you think?

[@Kathy_Loves_Physics]

Galen Matson I guess it is. It is from a SchoolHouse rock episode and I thought it was funny because it is so on the nose. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@solarwonder]

does anyone recommend the book "power struggles" about the 19th century electrical community up t eidson?

[@Kathy_Loves_Physics]

Never heard of it. Do you recommend it?

[@solarwonder]

@@Kathy_Loves_Physics called power struggles, Scientific Authority and the Creation of Practical Electricity Before Edison by the same author, schiffer, as draw the lightning down

[@LaurenceRonayne]

Mirable audu

[@marnih]

Great videos, but so much repetition between these videos on Franklin and electricity. I wish they were condensed to easier share with my class.

[@Kathy_Loves_Physics]

Sorry about that, I was worried that my videos would be too long so I split it up. Maybe you could edit it together for your class?

[@susheelanisha]

@@Kathy_Loves_Physics On the contrary, I find the back references helpful, even in terms of fully understanding the chronology of events. Thanks for this!

[@b43xoit]

Before hearing the video, my guess is that devotees to Abrahamism thought that if you were struck by lightening, it was the will of the god they believe in, and that putting up lightning rods thwarted the will of the god and was therefore blasphemous.

[@johnnicholson8811]

@B. Xolt Yes, and if you put gunpowder in a "Abrahamism" house of worship and end up blowing the town up ....

[@b43xoit]

@@johnnicholson8811 If someone blew up a town by that method, what consequence are you thinking about that you replace with an ellipsis mark?

[@mynameisgladiator1933]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and speculate you were very disappointed in the American revolution.

[@noncompliant4316]

I love your videos and research, Kathy, but could I request that we just listen to your lovely voice? I find the background music very distracting and headache-generating. Very best wishes to you.

[@cameronpevely7828]

yeet

[@johnadams-lj5wq]

To big takes to much room

[@lourias]

Kathy, I LOVE the sciences, also!!! Would you consider the following, please? Curb your enthusiasm just a little. In some videos NOT THIS VIDEO, it sounds like you are yelling at me, instead of sharing your knowledge with me. When you add your hand gestures to the overenthusiasm, it looks like a 3 year old pitching a fit. I talk a whole bunch with my hands, too. Who knows, perhaps I do the same thing in my lectures? Well, food for thought. I do not know if I would be any better making videos of what I love. I would like to see you do extremely well with this channel. You have managed to dig up so much cool stuff about the beginnings of modern day understanding about electricity that it absolutely is inspiring!!!

[@solarwonder]

this does alot as homework to reinforce my reading of 'draw the lightning down.' however, even with animated hand movement and expression, this needs more change of scene and change of angle of the camera. it starts to get boring, despite the content.

[@kylezo]

Is the mythos of a magnanimous Tesla vs a ruthless capitalist Franklin just pure rubbish? This seems rather to swoon over Franklin as a kind of ubermensch, though clearly he was a genius.

[@Kathy_Loves_Physics]

II think you are confusing Franklin with Edison. Franklin lived 100 years before Tesla and was not a ruthless capitalist.

[@billyjoejimbob75]

At least the religious people know better now about why god sends earthquakes. (It's the gay)

[@Kathy_Loves_Physics]

We are so much more rational now! (Just kidding)

[@billyjoejimbob75]

On the whole, maybe. But probably little comfort to kids being banished from their village for witchcraft.

[@Kathy_Loves_Physics]

Sorry, I was kidding- it’s just as insane to blame people’s sexuality for earthquakes as lightning rods. In fact, it is more insane.

[@ralphstern2845]

Well done