The rapid heating and cooling of the gases within a lightning bolt produces nitric oxide (NO), which combines with oxygen to create nitrogen dioxide (NO2), especially when it’s moving downwind. Nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide are referred to together as nitrogen oxides (NOx), a mixture of gases. Anyway, yes lightning CAN produce oxygen from water, …
There are fluctuations in temperature, humidity, pollutants, dust particles, etc. in the air, and so the resistance varies. As a result, lightning strikes are often observed in a zigzag pattern. A bolt of lightning is created when the buildup in electrical charge is enough to create a channel between the two opposite-charged particles. In the …
Cloud-to-ground lightning starts from the sky and heads downward but what we see can travel from the ground upward. Over the last twenty years scientists have discovered that lightning also shoots upward out of the top of thunderstorms into the upper atmosphere. These lightning types are known as red sprites, elves and blue jets. Download …
In reality, lightning can and will strike the same place twice, whether it be during the same storm or even centuries later. When we see a lightning strike, we’re witnessing the discharge of electricity that has built up in a cloud, which is so strong that it breaks through the ionized air. Does Lightning really …
These could be due to strain and corrosion — in other words, normal wear and tear. Sometimes it’s because you are using a cheap knock-off cable of low quality. Another frequently asked inquiry is “Why are Lightning cables so fragile?”. This is always due to cable abuse. That’s right, it’s always a human who has …
As an i. Phone user, you must have noticed that today’s lightning cables are not as sturdy and break easily. The reason why these cables break so easily is that the cable splits or frays. Since the male connector is easily bendable, it is more susceptible to breakage. With daily use, the contacts on the …
When it hits a sandy beach high in silica or quartz and the temperature goes beyond 1800 degrees Celsius, the lighting can fuse the sand into silica glass. The blast of a billion Joules radiates through the ground making fulgurite — hollow, glass-lined tubes with a sandy outside. What happens when lightning strikes sand? When …
Lightning has a lot of energy; a single bolt can power 150 million light bulbs. The idea of harnessing so much energy and storing it is immensely appealing. Benjamin Franklin used a kite and a key to prove that lightning is caused by electricity, although he couldn’t store the electricity. A practical means of storing …
Lightning as we know it in air cannot happen in vacuum because lightening depends crucially on the generation of positive ions and negative electrons by ionization of molecules of the air in high electric fields (and eventually high temperatures) and the ensuing impact ionization typical for a gas discharge. Electrons can jump from one surface …
It has been proposed that the energy contained in lightning be used to generate hydrogen from water, to harness the energy from rapid heating of water due to lightning, or to use a group of lightning arresters to harness a strike, either directly or by converting it to heat or mechanical energy, or to use …
