Abstract
THE very interesting article by Mr. W. H. Preece on the “Space Protected by a Lightning-Conductor” (Phil. Mag. 5th series, vol. x. p. 427 et seq., December, 1880) revives this important practical question. The old rule, first enunciated by M. Charles, which makes the radius of the protected circular area around the base of the rod equal to twice its vertical height, has never been satisfactorily verified either on theoretical or experimental grounds. This rule was adopted in the Report of the Commission of the French Academy of Sciences drawn up by M. Gay-Lussac in 1823 (Ann. de Chim. et de Phys. 2nd series, t. 26, p. 258), and also in two other reports drawn up by M. Pouillet, one in 1854 (Comptes rendus, t. 39, p. 1142), and the other in 1867 (Comptes rendus, t. 64, p. 102). But still more recently the Committee appointed by the Préfet de la Seine to superintend the construction of lightning-conductors in the City of Paris, in their Report in February, 1876, reduced the radius of the protected area to 1.45 times the height of the rod. I am ignorant on what grounds the Commission adopted this precise number.
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LE CONTE, J. On the Space Protected by Lightning-Conductors. Nature 23, 386 (1881). https://doi.org/10.1038/023386b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/023386b0
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