kids encyclopedia robot

Lightning arrester facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
LightningArrester PEM
The antenna is attached to A, and a pipe in the ground is attached to E. The television signal can go from A to B but not from B to C or from C to D. However, when the high voltage of lightning hits, it can easily go through the air from B to C and from C to D.

A lightning arrester is a device that is used to switch a lightning strike from something such as a television antenna to a metal rod about two meters long that is buried in the ground. If a lightning arrester is not used, then the lightning will go through the television set and burn it out.

A "lightning arrester" does not really "arrest" or stop lightning. It "diverts" or changes the way lightning goes so that it ends up going into the ground instead of going into a television set or other device that it could cause harm.

Images for kids

  • NBPowerTransmissionTowerMaintenance

    Powerline worker performs maintenance of a lightning arrester on an electrical transmission tower in New Brunswick, Canada

  • Fuss Sendemast Hirschlanden 28092011 1

    Base of a mast radiator with spark gap and series inductance in form of a coil with one winding in the feeder line

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Lightning arrester Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.