How Does a Lightening Rod Work?
The rod itself is only one component in a system designed to protect buildings from lightening strikes. These pointed rods are usually made of copper or aluminum. Another rod design common in housing, features a conductive line mounted atop non-conductive supports mounted on the corners of a slanting square or rectangular roof. Lightening rods divert bolts of lightening safely away from buildings and other structures. Lightening strikes the rod, which conducts the electricity down through an attached, low-resistance conductive cable into the ground, where the charge is dissipated. In the US, it is commonly said that the Lightening Rod was invented by Founding Father Benjamin Franklin in 1749. In Europe, Vaclav Prokop Divis is thought to have independently invented a Lightening Rod of his own in the early 1750’s. Russians claim that the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk, finished in 1732, featured the first ever Lightening Rod, however, the claim that the tower’s spire was a purpose-built devic
