The nitrogen-containing nitrates in the soil are absorbed by the plants, and when we eat the plants or the animals which eat the plants, we get the nitrogen in a form which our bodies can use. So, in addition to providing a spectacular light show, and scaring us to death, lightning also helps fertilize the soil.
How does Lightning help plants grow?
The air in the atmosphere is 78% nitrogen. Plants require nitrogen to grow, but they can’t process the inert nitrogen gas in the sky. It takes an enormous blast of energy to break apart those nitrogen molecules and convert them to a compound that plants can use. This is where lightning comes into play.
It is now known that lightning helps greatly to fertilize the soil. Eighty percent of the atmosphere or sky is nitrogen, an essential food for plants. About 22,000,000 tons of this nutriment float over each square mile of the earth. But as it exists in the atmosphere nitrogen is unusable by plants.
The air contains 78% nitrogen and during lightning some of this is converted to nitrogen dioxide, which dissolves in rain drops, and falls on your lawn. This extra nitrogen works just like a fertilizer; grass absorbs it and becomes greener.
Does lightning put nitrogen in soil?
Yes, lightning adds nitrogen to soil, but not directly. The atmosphere’s composition is 78 percent nitrogen, but the nitrogen in the air is not available to our bodies. The two atoms in the airborne nitrogen molecule are held together very tightly.
One way to consider this is Each bolt of lightning carries electrical energy that is powerful enough to break the strong bonds of the nitrogen molecule in the atmosphere. Lightning does add nitrogen to the soil, as nitrates dissolve in precipitation. This helps plants, but microorganisms in the soil do the vast majority of nitrogen fixation.
Obviously we don’t have to be struck by lighting in order to satisfy our need for nitrogen! However, in a thunderstorm there is enough electrical energy in lightning to separate the nitrogen atoms in the air.
Nitrogen in the atmosphere can be transformed into a plant-usable form, a process called nitrogen fixation, by lightning. Each bolt of lightning carries electrical energy that is powerful enough to break the strong bonds of the nitrogen molecule in the atmosphere.
Why does lightning hit the ground?
When lightning strikes, due to the length of the lightning conductor, it gets attracted to it and gets absorbed by the conductor. Due to the low resistance path, it travels through this conducting network and finally gets absorbed into the ground.
Intra-cloud lightningcloud-to-cloud lightningcloud -to-ground lightning.
Then, what happens when you get struck by lightning?
Lightning strikes can inflict both cardiovascular and neurological damage on the human body. If you’re struck by lightning, your lightning strike side effects could be as minor as cataracts or as serious as death. There are a plethora of lightning strike side effects.
While I was writing we ran into the query “What does lighting do when it hits the ground?”.
One idea is that when lightning strikes a tree or other object, much of the energy travels outward from the strike in and along the ground surface. This is known as the ground current. Anyone outside near a lightning strike is potentially a victim of ground current. In addition, ground current can travels in garage floors with conductive materials.
What happens when a raindrop hits the ground?
, and convectional rainfall. Orographic or relief rainfall. Cyclonic or frontal rainfall.
What happens to nitrogen in the soil when it rains?
The nitrates fall to the ground in raindrops and seep into the soil in a form that can be absorbed by plants. Lightning does add nitrogen to the soil, as nitrates dissolve in precipitation. This helps plants, but microorganisms in the soil do the vast majority of nitrogen fixation.