Around 2,500 people die in lightning strikes around India each year. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that deaths by lightning strikes have doubled in the country since the 1960s - one of the reasons they cited was the climate crisis. What to do when lightning strikes?
• Seek shelter inside a large building or a car
• Get out of wide, open spaces and away from exposed hilltops
• If you have nowhere to shelter, make yourself as small a target as possible by crouching down with your feet together, hands on knees and head tucked in
• Do not shelter beneath tall or isolated trees
• If you are on water, get to the shore and off wide, open beaches as quickly as possible
1. During lightning you are safe inside a car because
(i) Electric potential inside car is zero
(ii) Electrostatic shielding
(iii) Car is made of insulated material
(iv) None of the above
2. Sharp pointed ends have high electric field. This is used in p) lightning arrestors q) high voltage generators r) corona discharge
(i) p alone
(ii) P& Q ONLY
(iii) p,q &r
(iv) none of them
3.During lightning it is advised to unplug electronic devices because
(i) lightning can cause a surge of electricity to burst through the power lines.
(ii) lightning can cause shock from devices.
(iii) lightning can destroy earthing of the building
(iv) all of the above
4. The potential of earth is taken to be
(i) infinite
(ii) zero
(iii) constant value on the surface
(iv) varies from place to place
5. A bird sitting on a high power line is not affected because
(i) feathers of birds are insulators
(ii) They do not maintain a potential difference
(iii) The nerve cells of bird can with stand high current.
(iv) none of these.
