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Why is a golfer with a metal club over her shoulder vulnerable to lightning in an open fairway? Would she be any safer under a tree?

a) Club attracts lightning; Safer under a tree
b) Club repels lightning; Safer under a tree
c) Club attracts lightning; Not safer under a tree
d) Club repels lightning; Not safer under a tree

User Silvenon
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

A golfer with a metal club is vulnerable to lightning because the club can attract a strike. Seeking shelter under a tree is unsafe because trees can conduct lightning, posing a risk to anyone underneath.

Step-by-step explanation:

A golfer carrying a metal club on an open fairway is vulnerable to lightning because the metal club can act as a conductor that can attract a lightning strike. Lightning tends to strike taller objects and metal conducts electricity, making the golfer an easier target for a lightning strike.

As for seeking shelter under a tree, this is also unsafe. Trees can also attract lightning due to their height and can conduct the lightning strike to the ground. If lightning strikes a tree, the electrical current can travel along the tree and potentially injure anyone nearby. Wood is an insulator, but because lightning can carry such high voltage, it can travel through a tree to reach the Earth.

User Vic Goldfeld
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