Inquiring into Lightning
What is lightning
Lightning is when electricity quickly goes from one cloud to another cloud or from one cloud down to earth. When the electricity gets passed it makes light.
Lightning is when electricity quickly goes from one cloud to another cloud or from one cloud down to earth. When the electricity gets passed it makes light.
![Picture](/uploads/2/2/1/4/22141058/9579626.png)
How is lightning formed ( Kids version)?
When cold air and warm air meet the warm air goes up and makes thunderstorm clouds. The cold air has ice crystals,the warm air has water droplets. The droplets and crystals bump together, rub together and move apart in the air. The rubbing makes static electrical charges in the clouds. The top of a cloud is usually positively charged and the bottom of the cloud is usually negatively charged.
Once the cloud is full, it has to get rid of the negatively charged atoms - so what happens is that the ground has positively charged electrons, and their is usually more positively charged electrons around anything that sticks up, such as tall buildings, lone trees, people, and tall mountains. So since opposites attract the negative electrons from the clouds attract to the positively electrons coming up from the ground and because of the speed that these electrons travel when they hit each other wooollla.... Lightning if formed.
When cold air and warm air meet the warm air goes up and makes thunderstorm clouds. The cold air has ice crystals,the warm air has water droplets. The droplets and crystals bump together, rub together and move apart in the air. The rubbing makes static electrical charges in the clouds. The top of a cloud is usually positively charged and the bottom of the cloud is usually negatively charged.
Once the cloud is full, it has to get rid of the negatively charged atoms - so what happens is that the ground has positively charged electrons, and their is usually more positively charged electrons around anything that sticks up, such as tall buildings, lone trees, people, and tall mountains. So since opposites attract the negative electrons from the clouds attract to the positively electrons coming up from the ground and because of the speed that these electrons travel when they hit each other wooollla.... Lightning if formed.
![Picture](/uploads/2/2/1/4/22141058/829860.jpg)
Different Forms of lightning
1. Intra Cloud (inside the cloud)
2. Cloud to Cloud (between two clouds)
3. Cloud to ground (hits the fround from a cloud)
4. Cloud to air (lightning hits the air from a cloud)
1. Intra Cloud (inside the cloud)
2. Cloud to Cloud (between two clouds)
3. Cloud to ground (hits the fround from a cloud)
4. Cloud to air (lightning hits the air from a cloud)
![Picture](/uploads/2/2/1/4/22141058/1392804121.jpg)
5. Bolt from the blue (Lightning from the cloud that flies threw the air for many miles and then hits the ground)
6. Anvil lightning (A lightning that appears in an Anvil cloud and travels straight down)
7. Heat lightning (A lightning that is always too far away to be heard)
6. Anvil lightning (A lightning that appears in an Anvil cloud and travels straight down)
7. Heat lightning (A lightning that is always too far away to be heard)
How hot is lightning?
Lightning is approximately 30 000 degrees celcius and for those that follow the imperial measurement system it is 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That is six times hotter than the surface of the sun!
What color is lightning?
Lightning seems to be clear or a white-yellow color, but it really depends on the background. The light is just what happens when the negative and positive charges hit each other.
Lightning is approximately 30 000 degrees celcius and for those that follow the imperial measurement system it is 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That is six times hotter than the surface of the sun!
What color is lightning?
Lightning seems to be clear or a white-yellow color, but it really depends on the background. The light is just what happens when the negative and positive charges hit each other.
7 interesting facts about lightning:
- 70 to 100 people die of lightning
every year.
- Lighting can travel up to 60,000
miles per second.
- A flash of lightning produces as much
electricity as a power plant in the United States in that second.
- Florida is the lightning capital of
the United States.
- A flash of lightning can power a
light bulb for a
Month. - Lightning can change color depending
on the background.
- The most lightning is in the republic
of Congo, and the least in the Arctic Ocean and Antarctica.
- SAFETY FACTS FOR LIGHTNING
- “When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors".
- WHEN OUTSIDE
- You are not safe anywhere outside, so head indoors.Run to a safe building or vehicle when you first hear thunder, see lightning or observe dark threatening clouds developing overhead. Stay inside until 30 minutes after you hear the last clap of thunder.
- If you can not find shelter indoors, here are some things to stay away from
- * Tall trees or polls
- * Be in a swimming pool, lake, river, or ocean. ( Bodies of water)
- * Be outside with an umbrella
- * Metal things - bikes, goal posts, fences
WHEN INSIDE
- Do not touch anything that is plugged into an electrical outlet, plumbing, and corded phones.
- Cell phones and cordless phones are safe. Also, keep away from outside doors and windows and do not lie on a garage floor.
WHAT TO DO IF SOMEONE IS HIT WITH LIGHTNING
Call your emergency services.
Be clear on how when you are talking to the emergency services do these things
If someone is hit by lightning, it is ok to touch them as the elctricity has passed through them already.
Call your emergency services.
- In Norway it is 113.
- In Australia it's 000.
- In the USA it's 911.
Be clear on how when you are talking to the emergency services do these things
- Speak loud and clear
- Give your name and location
- What happened
- And tell them anything you notice about the person! ( Check their ABC's - Airways, Breathing and Circulation - Pulse.)
If someone is hit by lightning, it is ok to touch them as the elctricity has passed through them already.