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Re: very long sparks



At 07:15 10/01/2000 -0700, Bert Hickman wrote:

>A wee bit skeptical are we... ?  :^)

Actually .... it's my middle name ;-)

... Snip ...

>While it is indeed hard to believe that a 5 MV impulse could generate a
>100 meter spark, there is ample precident that very long sparks can
>propagate under relatively low average applied fields - this includes
>lightning! While the 5 MV discharge had an "average" field of only 500
>volts/cm, it turns out that lightning strikes occur with an observed
>average field stress that may be as low as 100 volts/cm when observed at
>ground level ("Lightning" by Uman).
>
>Sometimes truth IS stranger than fiction...

Which is why belonging to this list is worthwhile !

Cheers

Mark


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