A lightning bolt strikes one end of a steel lightning rod, producing a 14500-A current burst that lasts for 65 . The rod is 2.5 long and 2.1 in diameter, and its other end is connected to the ground by 38 of 8.1-mm-diameter copper wire.
A. Find the potential difference between the top of the steel rod and the lower end of the copper wire during the current burst.
(answer in volts, V)
B. Find the total energy deposited in the rod and wire by the current burst.
(answer in joules, J)
Either or

a. 206.9v

b. 194.7J

Explanation:

Data given

Next we calculate the resistance for each metal

since

for steel, p=20*10^-8 ohmmeter

for copper, p=1.72*10^-8 ohmmeter

if we substitute values we arrive at

The potential difference is expressed as

b. using the equation for energy, we have

see the picture for the vector

the magnitude of the vector by pythagorean theorem

r = √( (-10)^2 + (3)^2 ) = √109

magnitude = √109 units

the direction angle between vector and x-axis is

tan^(-1)(3/10) = 16.699

so the direction is approximately 16.7 degrees north of west