Lightning: The size of a coin, hotter than the Sun and a catalyst to nightmares.

                

     We've all either experienced or know someone that has had nightmares about lightning. However, these streaks of glow coming out of the sky aren't just scary, they carry with them many exciting phenomena that will surely strike you as they've struck me (pun intended). Let's dive into this blog and get to understand a little more about lightning, a little more than just the horrors it brings. 

    To understand lightning, it's essential to consider the climate and the conditions it occurs in. Lightning is frequent and is mainly centered around areas with moist and generally unstable atmospheric conditions. Geographically, lightning is frequent and primarily observed in the Himalayas, central Africa, and South America. This climate is responsible for the formation of thunder clouds, also known as Cumulonimbus Clouds, characterized by their massive size, their ability to develop vertically, and most fascinatingly, their ability to separate positive and negative charges. It's these clouds that are the culprits responsible for the huge havoc lightning causes. 

    Next, let's break down the specifics of what exactly happens. As with any other material, these thunder clouds consist of lighter, positively charged particles and heavier, negatively charged particles; these can be referred to as protons and electrons. As the thunder clouds develop vertically, the protons and electrons are separated, and the distance between these charges widens; the electrons occupy the lower part of the cloud, whereas the lighter protons move upwards toward the top of the cloud. As the space between these two charges of opposite polarity widens, an extremely strong electric field is generated between them. To put into perspective, a lightning bolt can have up to a billion volts of electricity, sufficient to produce about 666 million AA batteries or cook 100,000 pieces of toast. One bolt with enough power to last more than a lifetime!

    Now let's get to the exciting part, the part that continues to strike scientists to this day (pun intended, again!). In efforts to neutralize these spaces of opposite polarity and the electric field generated as a result of it, channels of electrically conductive materials within the cloud materialize, essentially getting fried by electricity, as they begin to carve a path between the two charged regions. The frying of these conductive particles by the electric field is what produces the glow that is distinct to lighting (more on this later). These conductive materials are known as leaders. Leaders face the roadblock of air, which is non-conductive and must work around it to get to the area of opposite polarity, thus explaining why lighting looks so crooked. 

    The locations of these charged spaces can vary; they can either be within the thundercloud causing internal lighting flashes known as intracloud lightning; alternatively, the charged spaces can lie on the ground, causing a ground flash that we humans are used to seeing, or they can be in both places.  

    Furthermore, as one can expect, these bolts of lightning are extremely hot, some reaching temperatures of more than 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, that about five times hotter than the temperatures recorded on the surface of the Sun. As you can probably expect, the air around these flashes of lightning also becomes extremely hot and eventually explodes, similar to a bomb. Formally known as thunder, it is this explosion that later transforms into an acoustic wave that we hear as a loud bang. Yes, the same bang that gives people nightmares. 

    Given its powers, the electricity in lightning can be captured and stored to power our homes and businesses. Currently, colleges like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among others, is conducting research to venture out into the depths of lightning and find out how it can be used to benefit us as humans. 

    This jolt of lightning the size of a penny, hotter than the Sun and catalyst to a nightmare, remains largely unexplored to this day. The scope of this blog has only just scratched the surface of the science behind lightning. However interesting, lighting is also responsible for the destruction of thousands of trees and starting wildfires in forests that spread over thousands of acres and the demise of 2000 lives. Many of those deaths are a result of electrocution from being in a swimming pool during lightning; remember, water conducts electricity, and lighting carries a ton of it; it's best to evacuate from any water body as lightning appears.

Blog Credits: Jay Uday Chitale ( FY Computer engineering, 112003054)  (Team Fun Fact Friday)

References:

https://bestlifeonline.com/lightning-facts/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXhif3E3l2s

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/

https://unsplash.com/photos/E-Zuyev2XWo

Note: This blog is meant for educational purposes only. We do not own any Copyrights related to images and information, all the rights goes to their respective owners. The sole purpose of this blog is to Educate, Inspire, Empower and to create awareness in the viewers. The usage is non-commercial (Not for Profit) and we do not make any money from it.

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