Can a bolt of lightning zap you if.....?

Question

I read this article about how a kid was using his computer and lightning struck and came thru his outlet, thru his mouse and zapped him sending him across his room, he lived. Now it didnt say if the mouse was corded or not but say it was, would a wireless mouse and keyboard have the same affect or nothing at all? I wouldn't think so cause its wireless.

Answer 1

In answer to the question itself: no, lightning would not travel through the computer, through the air and into your wireless mouse the same way it would travel along a wire. You would have to be touching the computer in some other way to create a conduit for the electricity to flow across.

I'm also suspicious of the original story. A computer is normally plugged into a surge protector which will shut off power flow if there is a sudden surge, and the power supply on the computer itself will burn itself out trying to keep a power surge from frying the motherboard. The electricity then would have to fry several other components before it would THEN have to exit the computer by way of the mouse port and still have enough energy to knock the kid across the room. I'm not saying it couldn't happen ever, but I'm suspicious that the story is an urban legend.

Answer 2

No, it just would effect anything connected to the electricty and anything wired to the computer. And the odds are soooo slim of this happening.

Note: You should have your computer grounded or in a surge protector always!

=] Chris

Answer 3

This is a very rare probability, maybe one in a million.

The probability of the ceiling falling off or a road accident is much more than that!!

C'mon, start enjoying and Live your life, than worrying of such unusual incidents.