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1381
1382

A flower with 80,000 volts running through it (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by ethicks

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[–]virtualetters 100 points101 points ago

This is a great image. I just need to clarify that there is an 80,000 V potential difference across the flower. It is correct to say "Amps" are running through it, but precisely how many Amps depends on the electronic properties of the flower (how easily electrons/charge can be passed through it). Normally the voltage and amps are linearly related by Ohm's law and the constant that connects them is called the "resistance" of the material. In this case, the amps are almost certainly nonlinearly related to the number of volts. With that many volts across the flower, dielectric breakdown and arcing are occurring.

The easy picture to remember is that, if charge is water, volts correspond to height and amps to the mass flow rate (how much water per second). This is an imperfect analogy but good enough.

[–]souter 15 points16 points ago

Thank you. This bugged me way more than it should

[–]MyAntiAlterEgo 4 points5 points ago

It's like Monty Python. I love Monty Python but cringe every time: "Mate, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it!"

[–]ClimbingWolfBear 4 points5 points ago

Thank you. I took an intro circuitry class last year, and the first two weeks consisted of the professor yelling at the class, "It's voltage ACROSS the resistor, and current THROUGH the resistor!"

[–]varanone 1 point2 points ago

Beautiful pic beautifully explained.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]what_comes_after_q 0 points1 point ago

That's a very poor example, because every time that boxer goes to box, if he was really a proper analogy, he would have to change how strong he was or how long his arms were depending on who he was fighting. Amps are always proportional to volts, although not always linearly, but you can't have one without the other, and you can't change one without changing the other. Take a car battery - it's 12 volts, which is very low voltage. You can touch a car battery no problem. You can hook it up to an led with a small resistor and it will glow just fine. But if you connect it to a metal bar, you can heat the metal to the point where it get burning hot because the current is so high. If the battery was the boxer in your analogy, it wouldn't make any sense.

[–]LykDisIfUcryerrytime 0 points1 point ago

Low volts, low reach. It'll not arc to you to complete connection between the positive and negative, it can seriously injure you though if you fuck around and put the ends of a pair of jumper cables on either side of your hand.

Now take a taser, high volts and low amps which can jump through two inches of separation by clothing or open air to complete a circuit. Fifty thousand volts but it'll not burn or scar you with only like .02 amps.

So yeah, my analogy works when you talk about amps, volts and electricity in general terms that make it easier for people with little knowledge to understand in a round-about way. My analogy was not that the boxer is a battery, you added that to make a counter point that just makes my example look like it doesn't work, when it does.

[–]what_comes_after_q 0 points1 point ago

Again, no, tasers are not "high voltage, low current", they are just high voltage. If they get shot in to something more conductive, they'll produce more amps. Less conductive, fewer amps. This is because tasers act as a voltage source. And car batteries can go on either side of your hand. Ever hold the top of a 9 volt battery? Did you feel anything? No. Same will happen with a car battery. Unless you dunk your hand in some water first, you'll be fine. 50kV will produce far more than 20 milliamps (several orders of magnitude more than that). Fortunately, when a taser hits, because the resistance of skin is much lower than air, the voltage has to drop because a taser just can't produce killowatts of power (another place where your analogy breaks down, but it's a pretty fringe case). Instead it will drop to around 1kV, perhaps even less. Because the human body is made of a bunch of different tissues, there is no one fixed resistance describing how the power will go. Most of it will likely travel through your sweat and circuilatory system, leaving only a couple milliamps to go through your muscles and tissue. If you want to rework the fighter example, imagine the boxer's muscles being the voltage. His opponent can be the resistance. How damaging his blows are would be the current. Big dude fighting a small guy would hit him hard, so high voltage, low resistance, high current. Switch the roles, and the big guy may hardly feel the hit at all from the little guy, so low voltage, high resistance, low current. Plus, if you then take two evenly matched fighters, they're going to hit equivalently hard (okay, how strong they punch may also not be the best example) regardless of what size they are.

[–]cname87 0 points1 point ago

If you were to hold the ends of a jumper cable connected across a car battery (12V) and your hands are wet what do you think will happen?

[–]Dstanding 0 points1 point ago

Shouldn't you compare it with plumbing? Volts = pressure, amps = volume

[–]dotchHopkin -1 points0 points ago

Well you can't really say that amps run through it either (although it is the convention!), because amps are a measure of electron flow.

It's like saying, about a river, that it's flow flows (as opposed to saying its water flows).

[–]vahntitrio -3 points-2 points ago

Classic reddit, a repost with the same incorrect title leads to an identical top comment pointing out what is incorrect in the title.

[–]EEFred 3 points4 points ago

Well, you bringing this up hasn't furthered the conversation any. So it's a repost, who gives a shit? I've never seen it before, as well as many others.

Wouldn't be easier just to let it slide?

[–]tehgreatblade -1 points0 points ago

Not to mention it's a pretty cool picture. I wouldn't mind seeing it in the future. NOT defending reposts.

[–]usuallyjustbrowsing 26 points27 points ago

Oh wow! I'm usually just browsing on reddit, but I decided to make an account for this. This is my father's artwork! Here's a link to his website: The Robert Buelteman Studio. He began his career doing beautiful B&W Landscape photography, but in 1999 adopted the technique of Kirlian photography, which is what you see here. It is a photographic process that uses no cameras, lenses, or computers (these images aren't digitally manipulated in the slightest). This flower is an artichoke, Cynara scolymus. Glad to see his work being appreciated!

Edit: I believe the only reason it is marked with a Barcroft media copyright is because this image was taken from this Daily Mail article from the UK.

[–]Citykid93 3 points4 points ago

dear lord people upvote this man

[–]HIFW_GIFs_React_ 13 points14 points ago

Original source - http://www.buelteman.com/home.html

Article - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1199836/The-amazing-plant-photographs-years-making-filled-electricity.html

From the original submission.

[–]heyhoringadongdillo 2 points3 points ago

This fella's work is phenomenal, and even more so to see it live, when the images are 4feetx8feet

[–]Ras_H_Tafari 26 points27 points ago

This kills the flower

[–]POULTRY_PLACENTA -1 points0 points ago

Tried to call top comment, was one off.

[–]Lantyn 9 points10 points ago

...hoping that the next leap, would be the leap home.

[–]rogue780 0 points1 point ago

Oh, boy!

[–]carbontr3 4 points5 points ago

This is an artichoke

[–]Guitarable 0 points1 point ago

The flower of an artichoke?

[–]carbontr3 0 points1 point ago

Nope just an artichoke

[–]AustinTranslation 1 point2 points ago

reaper flower.

[–]mikeyfarrar 1 point2 points ago

Didn't this happen in Little Shop of Horrors?

[–]legomaheggoz 1 point2 points ago

FOR SCIENCE!

[–]Jetpack123 1 point2 points ago

Plant torture wonderful

[–]modex20 1 point2 points ago

80kV across it

[–]mingy 0 points1 point ago

Exactly. Geez.

[–]cidzaer 1 point2 points ago

Slowpoke here, but how is the electricity being pushed through the flower? 2 wires and an electrical outlet? A taser?

[–]xmasskull 1 point2 points ago

It's the amperage that kills you.

[–]Brunch_Detention 0 points1 point ago

You've created a monster!

[–]hairyassandballs 0 points1 point ago

Whoever did this is a witch and we shall have a hunt

[–]r0hto88 0 points1 point ago

Annnnd it's gone

[–]RealityChickCheck 0 points1 point ago

Smell it! No, YOU smell it. I'm not gona smell it...

[–]jyz002 0 points1 point ago

Looks like something straight out of a japanese rpg

[–]capt_ishmael 0 points1 point ago

Pick me now, bitch!

[–]Dawgpdr07 0 points1 point ago

This kills the flower.

[–]SaintsAngels 0 points1 point ago

as a biologist, this makes me feel all sexy inside and electrified, OH THE BEAUTY OF LIFE = D

[–]droctopu5 0 points1 point ago

AH GOD THE SCREAMING I CAN HEAR IT SCREAMING MAKE IT STOP

[–]theyseemetrollin101 0 points1 point ago

for science!

[–]morez 0 points1 point ago

Very cool image.

[–]capnjack78 0 points1 point ago

THAT POOR FLOWER!!

[–]GLkmed43 0 points1 point ago

Repost

[–]misletoe66 0 points1 point ago

In to torturing flowers?

[–]TheGreenShepherd 0 points1 point ago

VOOM!

[–]chcltthndridn 0 points1 point ago

Black Lotus

[–]Wazowski 0 points1 point ago

Title is inaccurate. This is just a close-up of the airbrushed art on the side of my conversion van.

[–]Onlyhereforthelaughs 0 points1 point ago

There was a comic somewhere about how humans are a strange race, giving each other dead plant genitals as gifts. This is like giving those genitals the chair...

[–]Reavers_Go4HrdBrn 0 points1 point ago

Now do the same thing with weed!

[–]sirus20x6 0 points1 point ago

I built a 45,000 Volt resonant transformer if I build a second one I could have 90,000 volts.

time to find some flowers

[–]Odatas 0 points1 point ago

Every Time i see something that should impress me with high voltage im am like "FUCK YOU I CAN SURVIVE 1 Million Volt...IT DEPENS ON THE AMPERE" One million volt with almoste zero ampere do nothing to me...But still this flover is awsome!!!

[–]RainbowHippie 1 point2 points ago

Thats a shocking flower :D

[–]thornsap 1 point2 points ago

poor flower :'(

[–]_shazbot_ -1 points0 points ago

That flower wouldn't "boom" if you put 80,000 volts through it.

[–]FusionGel -1 points0 points ago

"Breathe. Breathe in your fears. Face them. To conquer fear, you must become fear...you must bask in the fear of other men. And men fear most what they cannot see". -Ra's al Ghul

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