# How (im)possible is this XKCD comic?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-im-possible-is-this-xkcd-comic/403842>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 12, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-im-possible-is-this-xkcd-comic/403842 "2007-05-12T15:40:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-im-possible-is-this-xkcd-comic/403842/1 "2007-05-12T15:40:52Z")

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In a recent [XKCD comic](http://xkcd.com/c260.html), the protagonist fashions a canister to fly on a kite carrying a load of sand to be fused into glass by a lightning bolt. As the alt-text says, the whole thing is “for some value of ‘actually work’”. So, how possible or impossible is the idea?

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**Author:** ![Crescend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Crescend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crescend)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-im-possible-is-this-xkcd-comic/403842/2 "2007-05-12T16:06:11Z")

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Well, the first problem I can see with it is that the canister is in-line with the string; in order for the lightning to flow through the canister and heat it up, wouldn’t it have to go down the string and earth itself?

Into the guy holding the string.

There’s nothing wrong with turning sand into glass using electricity as far as I can see, that’s what [in-situ vitrification](http://www.bnl.gov/erd/Surface/ou1/ISV-facts.html) is.

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**Author:** ![Mrs.Millamant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@Mrs.Millamant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Millamant)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-im-possible-is-this-xkcd-comic/403842/3 "2007-05-12T16:18:58Z")

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But the guy is not holding the string at the time that the lightning strikes–it’s tethered to the ground.

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**Author:** ![Crescend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Crescend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crescend)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-im-possible-is-this-xkcd-comic/403842/4 "2007-05-12T16:38:39Z")

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So it is. In my defense, a nail in the ground looks remarkably like a stick figure from a certain angle. :smack:

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**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-im-possible-is-this-xkcd-comic/403842/5 "2007-05-12T18:28:02Z")

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Amazingly, something like this has been done: [http://ira.usf.edu/CAM/exhibitions/1998\_12\_McCollum/supplemental\_didactics/16.VoltTrig.pdf](http://ira.usf.edu/CAM/exhibitions/1998_12_McCollum/supplemental_didactics/16.VoltTrig.pdf)

Lots more stuff on the page where I found this document: [http://home.att.net/~amcimages/pdffiles.html](http://home.att.net/~amcimages/pdffiles.html)