What causes thunder and lightning?

What causes thunder and lightning?

Thunder is caused by the rapid expansion of the air surrounding the path of a lightning bolt. From the clouds to a nearby tree or roof, a lightning bolt takes only a few thousandths of a second to split through the air. The loud thunder that follows the lightning bolt is commonly said to come from the bolt itself.

How does lightning happen?

Lightning is an electrical discharge caused by imbalances between storm clouds and the ground, or within the clouds themselves. Most lightning occurs within the clouds. This heat causes surrounding air to rapidly expand and vibrate, which creates the pealing thunder we hear a short time after seeing a lightning flash.

How do you explain lightning and thunder to a child?

The lightning flash heats the air around it so quickly that the air expands very fast. When you heat something, it gets bigger – it expands. The air around the lightning flash expands so fast that it makes a shock wave in the air. That shock wave is the thunder that you hear.

Where does the lightning come from?

Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning comes from the sky down, but the part you see comes from the ground up. A typical cloud-to-ground flash lowers a path of negative electricity (that we cannot see) towards the ground in a series of spurts. Objects on the ground generally have a positive charge under a typical thunderstorm.

What attracts lightning to a person?

Myth: Structures with metal, or metal on the body (jewelry, cell phones,Mp3 players, watches, etc), attract lightning. Fact: Height, pointy shape, and isolation are the dominant factors controlling where a lightning bolt will strike. The presence of metal makes absolutely no difference on where lightning strikes.

What are the 3 types of lightning?

There are three common types of lightning: cloud to ground, cloud to cloud and cloud to air. Cloud to ground lightning is the most dangerous. The ground is mainly consisted of positively charged particles while the bottom of violent storm clouds have negative charged particles.

What does it mean when thunder is really loud?

If the thunder sounds more like a rumble, the lightning was at least several miles away. The loud boom that you sometimes hear is created by the main lightning channel as it reaches the ground. Remember, if you can hear thunder, chances are that you’re within striking distance of the storm.

Why is there lightning but no rain?

Dry thunderstorm refers to thunder and lightning that occur without bringing rain to the ground. In fact, the thunder-bearing clouds do produce rain but the rain droplets have evaporated in the air before reaching the ground. The anvil cloud is so high that rain coming from it evaporates before reaching the ground.

Can lightning give you superpowers?

The effects of the lightning may grant Electrical-Based Powers, Weather Powers or any powers to the victim if they survive.

Do mobile phones attract lightning?

“Cell phones, small metal items, jewelry, etc., do not attract lightning. Nothing attracts lightning. Lightning tends to strike taller objects,” said John Jensenius, a NOAA National Weather Service lightning expert. “People are struck because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

What are the effects of lightning and Thunder?

Sound Effects of Thunder. Thunder occurs as an acoustical effect of high temperature and pressure during a lightning storm. The change in pressure affects the human ears, which is how thunder is heard. The highest pressure in a storm happens a few inches away from the origin of the lightning strike, causing a rumbling noise.

What is the difference between lightning and Thunder?

The difference between thunder and lightning is that lightning is electromagnetic energy and thunder is sonic energy. Lightning actually causes thunder by rapidly heating and expanding the air around the path of the strike, explains a Library of Congress website.

What causes lightning and Thunder?

Thunder is caused by lightning, which is essentially a stream of electrons flowing between or within clouds, or between a cloud and the ground. The air surrounding the electron stream is heated to as hot as 50,000 degrees Farhenheit, which is three times hotter than the surface of the sun.

What is the distance between lightning and Thunder?

Thunder can be heard up to 25 miles away, and lightning strikes have been documented to occur as far as 25 miles from thunderstorms – known as a “bolt from the blue.”.