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We have an explanation for all 3240 xkcd comics, and only 65 (2%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!
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| Lightning |
 Title text: Maybe you should wear one too? I guess I'm taller than you, so as long as I have one we're fine. |
Explanation
An anti-static wrist strap is a device worn by people working with sensitive electronic devices. The strap is connected to a "ground", so that if there's any static charge built up it will discharge there rather than being transmitted to the device, which may otherwise damage it.
Lightning is a release of static electricity that occurs when there's a large charge difference between a cloud and the Earth or between two clouds. In the comic, Cueball has once again confused how anti-static devices work -- rather than protecting a device from static in the person, he thinks it will protect the person from static in the lightning. In fact, wearing a strap that conducts electricity will make it more likely that he will be struck by lightning, and the strap is far too small to protect him from the electricity in the lightning strike.
He may think that the anti-static device works like a lightning rod, attracting the lighting and diverting it away from his body. This is corroborated by the title text, in which he thinks that Ponytail should be safe because he's taller than she is, and lightning tends to be attracted to the highest conductor in its vicinity (e.g., lightning rods that are above the roof of the building they're protecting). While this is true, it ignores the fact that he's made himself more likely to be struck, and potentially severely hurt or killed, by a lightning strike.
Transcript
- [Lightning overhead. Cueball and Ponytail are standing on a hill at night.]
- [In the sky, by the lightning:]
- BOOOOM
- [Cueball:]
- Don't worry, I'm wearing an anti-static wrist strap
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