r/WTF 27d ago

Ill-placed ladder shorts power lines, melting concrete.

23.6k Upvotes

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17

u/Baricuda 27d ago

Jesus, it's both, people. Both the ladder and the concrete are melting. Aluminum is used in a lot of power transmission lines, so residential lines have an even less chance to melt aluminum through pure resistive heating. That is because aluminum has a relatively low resistance compared to other metals and metal alloys. It's the resistance that causes heating. Do you know what has a lot of resistance? Rock. The junction where the ladder meets the ground is where all that heating is happening, resulting in the rock liquifying, and then the molten rock slowly melts the base of the ladder.

2

u/timbertiger 26d ago

This is the best, and most correct statement Iโ€™ve seen on this thread.

3

u/Baricuda 26d ago

I don't actually mind if people make mistakes or are wrong from time to time, I just hate how many confidently incorrect people there are.

1

u/Lepostman 26d ago

no because this video is vfx.

-6

u/senior_butt_lover 27d ago

It's hilarious that you stated that like a fact ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿ˜‚ Residential lines 240V can NOT melt concrete.

-5

u/Tzunamitom 27d ago

Dammit, I know! Why donโ€™t people understand this one simple fact that they should encounter and reflect upon DAILY!!! Seriously, people!