As lightning passes through the air it heats the air quickly. This causes the air to expand rapidly and creates the sound wave we hear as thunder.
You might be thinking “How far does Lightning travel through the air?”
Although a lightning discharge usually strikes just one spot on the ground, it travels many miles through the air. When you listen to thunder, you’ll first hear the thunder created by that portion of the lightning channel that is nearest you.
One idea is that lightning may play an important role in clearing the air of pollutants. A storm-chasing airplane has shown that lightning can forge large amounts of oxidants. These chemicals cleanse the atmosphere by reacting with pollutants such as methane.
The next thing we wanted the answer to was: how does lightning heat up the air?
Some authors claimed as lightning passes through air, it can heat the air to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit (about 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun).
This begs the inquiry “What is the temperature of the air during lightning?”
The temperature of the air in the lightning channel may reach as high as 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun. Immediately after the flash, the air cools and contracts quickly. This rapid expansion and contraction creates the sound wave that we hear as thunder.
When lightning occurs?
Lightning primarily occurs when warm air is mixed with colder air masses, resulting in atmospheric disturbances necessary for polarizing the atmosphere. However, it can also occur during dust storms, forest fires, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, and even in the cold of winter, where the lightning is known as thundersnow.
The satellite data also track patterns of lightning intensity over time. In the northern hemisphere, for example, most lightning happens during the summer months. But in equatorial regions, lightning appears more often during the fall and spring.
What happens when a person is struck by lightning?
With a power of 300 kilovolts, lightning can heat the air up to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. This combination of power and heat can cause serious damage to the human body. Being struck by lightning may lead to burns, rupturing of the eardrum, eye damage, cardiac arrest, and respiratory arrest.
When we were researching we ran into the question “What are the dangers of lightning?”.
“Lightning Down: A World War II Story of Survival, ” by Tom Writes Clavin, “He was still only twenty-two years old.” Surely, Joe Moser knew the danger of what he was doing, but he chose not to dwell on it. He went out every day and did his.
Lightning strikes put you in direct contact with electricity. Avoid plumbing, including sinks, baths and faucets. Stay away from windows and doors, and stay off porches., and do not.
How is lightning formed?
When the electric field becomes very strong (on the order of tens of thousands of volts per inch), conditions are ripe for the air to begin breaking down. The electric field causes the surrounding air to become separated into positive ions and electrons — the air is ionized.
How does lightning cause air pollution?
This vivid display of nature produces more than light and sound, it also contributes in a small way to air pollution. It is all the result of chemistry. The rapid heating and cooling of the gases within a lightning bolt produces nitric oxide (NO), which combines with oxygen to create nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), especially when it’s moving downwind.
While writing we ran into the inquiry “What is the chemistry behind Lightning?”.
It is all the result of chemistry. The rapid heating and cooling of the gases within a lightning bolt produces nitric oxide (NO), which combines with oxygen to create nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), especially when it’s moving downwind. Nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide are referred to together as nitrogen oxides (NO x ), a mixture of gases.
Lightning is a perfect example of making an abundance of O3 to purify the earth’s atmosphere Nature’s way. Most of us have noticed the clean, fresh smell in the outdoor air after a thunderstorm, or the way clothing smells after it has been dried outside on a clothesline in the sun.