1. Form and Function: What are its main parts and what do the parts do? How does it use or generate electricity? How do electrons move through it?The main parts of a lightning rod is a pointed metal rod about an inch in diameter that is connected to a piece of copper or aluminum which is connected to a conductive grid buried in the ground. A lightning rod doesn’t generally generate electricity but when the lightning passes through it, there is a lot of negative electrons running through it. Electrons move through it by taking the path of least resistance to the ground which is the lightning rod. When the electrons get passed into the ground, they go into a conductive grid attached to the lightning rod and spread out.
2. What are the social implications? (How might people be affected?) Consider less developed countries and locations with different climates or geography.
Well people would like this feature because it prevents their houses and building from being burnt down from the heat of the lightning. This makes people more pleased with the resources we have to save peoples homes. However less developed countries might not have lightning rods but they’re able to attach them. A lot of it depends on the weather because in some places in the world, the climate is very different from others with a lot of lightning and they might not have nearly as much. In less developed countries, where the chance of lightning is higher, they have a greater chance that they’re homes will be struck because not everyone can afford to buy lightning rods.
3. What are the ethical implications? (What is morally right or wrong?)
A lightning rod is morally right because it prevents people from getting electrocuted and their houses being burnt down because the lightning will go straight to the rod instead of the houses. However the lightning rod looks very ugly on houses and buildings but it helps people stay alive and stay safe when there’s lightning going on.
4. What are the environmental implications? (How does it affects the natural world?)
When lightning hit’s the rod, all of the electrons get passed through going into the ground. The lightning rod allows the electrons to safely pass through the wires into the ground without harming anyone or anything.
In the project i feel as if my partner and i worked well together and came up with some good ideas, but we didn’t fully use them. We worker very well together to do the questions and to brainstorm the project diagram, i feel as if we covered the questions as thoroughly as we could with the time given. Right off the bat we came up with the idea to make a small house out of cardboard and to use tinfoil as the lightning rod. We started off by drawing out our idea for the house and then making a draft out of used cardboard and tin foil, and then we made the good copy of it using a small jewelry box covered in normal paper made to look like a house. We both did research for the project and we both contributed equally to the project.