Some information gathered on lightning>what, where, why, how

1. By: Nikitha Preetham 8A The Power of Lightning

2. What Is Lightning? Lightning is an atmospheric discharge of electricity accompanied by thunder. There are some 16 million lightning storms in the world every year. Lightning is caused by the forced separation of the negative and positive particles inside the cloud. The negative particles goes down to the bottom of the cloud because it is heavier than the positive particles. Then, because of the negatively charged bottom of the cloud, it induces a positive charge on the surface. Eventually, a spark jumps from the cloud to the ground. Lightning poses the greatest threat to life and property since it strikes the ground.

3. Lightning is an example of static electricity but in a more powerful form. When this static discharge happens to produce lightning, waste energy is formed too. The heat and sound, which is the thunder. Because Lightning is very powerful, it is very fatal to mankind. Dry lightning is a term in the United States for lightning that occurs with no precipitation at the surface. This type of lightning is the most common natural cause of wildfires.

4. How Is Lightning Formed? Particles in the cloud collide with each other, forcing the heavy, negative particles to go down and the lighter, positive particles to go up. The negatively charged bottom of the cloud induces a positive charge on the ground. When the electric potential is high enough, the spark jumps from the cloud to the ground. This spark is the lightning and the rest of the energy is transformed to heat and sound which is the lightning.

5. Benjamin Franklin One of the most celebrated people is Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin endeavored to test the theory that sparks shared some similarity with lightning by using a spire which was being erected in Philadelphia. While waiting for completion of the spire, he got the idea to use a flying object such as a kite. During the next thunderstorm, which was in June 1752, it was reported that he raised a kite, accompanied by his son as an assistant. On his end of the string he attached a key, and he tied it to a post with a silk thread. As time passed, Franklin noticed the loose fibers on the string stretching out; he then brought his hand close to the key and a spark jumped the gap. The rain which had fallen during the storm had soaked the line and made it conductive. But Benjamin had stated in his autobiography that two French men conducted the experiment a few weeks before he actually tried it.

6. Did You Know? Lightning rapidly heats the air in its immediate vicinity to around 20,000 °C (36,000 °F) - about three times the temperature of the surface of the Sun. An average bolt of negative lightning transfers a charge of five coulombs of energy and large bolts of lightning can carry up to 350 coulombs. A bolt of lightning can travel at speeds of 130,000 mph, and can reach temperatures approaching 30,000 °C.

7. This is a slow motion video of lightning striking the ground.

8. Grounding Lightning Rod Grounding is the creation of a harmless, low resistance path, the ground, for electricity to follow. It is an electrical safety procedure to prevent fires triggered by lightning. _ e _ e _ e Conductor Cable _ e _ e _ e _ _ _ e Ground Wire e e _ _ e e

9. Electric Shock and Lightning Electric shock is a smaller version of lightning. Charges build up in the object and when a material that has a tendency to gain electrons approaches, the electrons move from the object to the material, causing what we call electric shock. Sometimes, there is a small spark when the electrons move. This spark, when made bigger and more powerful, is the lightning.

10. The End