Did Lightning Strike Benjamin Franklin's Kite? | MythBusters | Discovery

Embarking on a daring quest to unlock the secrets of electricity, the team creates a mini lightning storm. Following Benjamin Franklin's pioneering method, they test the concept of flying a kite to conduct electricity. However, their experiment takes a dramatic turn when the fake Benjamin Franklin gets electrocuted.

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Did Lightning Strike Benjamin Franklin's Kite? | Mythbusters | Discovery

[stephenkohler]

The most underrated cast member MythBusters? The humble narrator.

[morefiction]

The kite didn't get hit by lightning. The experiment is about drawing the static electricity out of the cloud without a lightning strike. This paragraph is not hard to find by searching.

Franklin kept dry by retreating into a barn; the end of the string was also kept dry to insulate himself. When the stormed passed over his kite the conductor drew electricity into his kite. The kite was not struck by lightning but the conductor drew negative charges from a charged cloud to the kite, string, metal key and Leyden jar. It appears that he knew enough about grounding to protect himself from being electroshocked. When he moved his hand near the key he received a shock because the negative charge attracted the positive charge in his body.

[syntheticsolace]

You really see how important the narrator is when he’s no longer there. Definitely the glue in the narrative

[michelefritchie]

I once knew a lady who worked with me many years ago. She left her kids in the care of a babysitter; one of her kids was an 8 year old boy. They lived in an inner city neighborhood, and there had been rain for several days. So on a windy day, the boy made a kite, using copper wire for the frame. He flew the kite-- on a nice, windy day-- and it hit a powerline. That was the end of him. Worst of all, the news report of it got on the radio, and his mother heard it, turned to a co-worker, and commented about how terrible it was for that boy's family. She got home that evening--- and found out the victim was her son. And yes, there have been others who have tried this and got themselves killed.

[CleverExploration]

I would argue that people have survived lighting strikes. Some have even survived multiple strikes.

[henrybent]

You could re-edit these any way you wanted, and that's fine as far as I'm concerned, but why is the aspect ratio so messed up?

[christophermitchellsr]

this was so fun to watch like all of the episode's /myths they busted or confirmed the true mastery of the show is shown by there out of the box thinking when it came to the myth . wish they would bring it back it was a great show that inspired millions of people world wide

[JPJPJP]

“Is that your doll?”
“It’s an action figure dammit”

That’s a classic

[dylandude]

This video got me thinking about lightning... So I decided to look into it a bit. While the internet varries and says lightning has an average of hundreds of millions of volts, I think the average lightning bolt is around 40, 000V to 120, 000V. Since you guys tested close to 500, 000V, it's possible Ben Franklin did get an arc without bursting into flames.
Just some random thoughts that this video inspired `\{"_"}/`

[jlwilliams]

It's nice that Discovery is finally releasing these segments as onesies. But you can tell this one goes back a LONG way because apparently it was shot for the old SD 4:3 aspect ratio, not HD 16:9... leading the Build Team to look horizontally stretched. Surely they could fix this...

[TheWildIVY]

It's possible that Ben Franklin actually did touch the key after a lightning strike without dying, because if 90% of people survive direct hits from a lightning bolt, the key would give a lot less power, and he'd still have the same chance of survival. Plus, the duration of a lightning strike is less than a second, whereas this experiment sent charge for several seconds, making it more lethal

[OrdenJust]

I am not convinced that this is a myth that was busted. Franklin was said to have used hemp string for most of the kite string, but the part of the cord that he held onto was silk string tied to the hemp string, and that the silk string was kept dry.

[leefulbright]

Love myth busters! Love adam and Jamie!

[Shawnbadger]

So a thought I had is that, there's typically a large amount of excess water in the air during a lightning storm, that would dampen the string and could intensify the transfer of electricity down the string?

[DanKetchum]

I find it funny these guys (who've made everything under the sun) have so much trouble making a simple kite that every 10 year old knows how to make. lol

[shnubblebitts]

These guys are always way more chummy than Jamie and Adam. You can tell they like each other more.

[thecarman]

The conditions under which this test was done may have left out a key ingredient (pun intended). And that is humidity. Being out in a thunderstorm the air is pretty much 100% humid, meaning some, if not most, of the lightning discharge may have grounded out prior to reaching Ben. From what I recall reading somewhere a fellow kite flyer tried repeating the experiment and was killed. Ben might just have been extra lucky that day.

[georgev]

I can’t believe Grant is dead. Wow life is short people. Enjoy and live it up. RIP Grant.

[RelykofWar]

Ill admit.. the narator being missing is WILD

[jordanbrettabbott]

Carrie is the main reason why I used to watch this show.