To find how many times farther above the ground the lightning rod is compared to below the ground, we need to compare the two lengths.
The length of the rod above ground is \( \frac{5}{7} \) yard, and the length below the ground is \( \frac{1}{3} \) yard.
To solve for how many times farther the rod is above the ground than below, we can divide the length above ground by the length below ground:
\[ \text{Ratio} = \frac{\text{Length above ground}}{\text{Length below ground}} = \frac{\frac{5}{7}}{\frac{1}{3}} \]
To divide fractions, we multiply by the reciprocal:
\[ \text{Ratio} = \frac{5}{7} \times \frac{3}{1} = \frac{5 \times 3}{7 \times 1} = \frac{15}{7} \]
Thus, the length of the lightning rod above the ground is \( \frac{15}{7} \) times farther than the length below the ground.
To express this as a mixed number:
\[ \frac{15}{7} = 2 \frac{1}{7} \]
Therefore, the lightning rod is approximately \( 2 \frac{1}{7} \) times farther above the ground than below the ground.