It was a stormy night; the winds were howling, the trees were doing a macabre dance as they bent and swayed violently in the gust of winds. It was pitch dark, so dark you could not see your outstretched palm.
Suddenly, the whole night was eerily illuminated, and you instinctively braced yourself for the loud crack that would follow. Sure enough, the entire house reverberated from the ensuing aftermath of the lightning. You just witnessed lightning and thunder or thunder and lightning as most people call it. Isn't it odd though that lightning which comes first is placed second in most literature?
Pixabay: Lightning
What causes lightning?
Remember static electricity? It is ok if you do not, but recall that shock you get when you walk across a carpet and touch a metal doorknob. That is static electricity at play.
Our body is made up of atoms, and these atoms have negative and positive charged electric particles. But if the negatives cancel out the positive we would have the body at electrical "neutral".
But if an imbalance occurs (you have more positives than negatives or more negatives than positives) you have set yourself up for a zap when you touch a metal object, e.g. the doorknob.
The zap is merely the imbalanced charges being shared between you and the other object ( in this case a doorknob). In other words, static charges look for an opportunity to discharge.
The same static charge plays a role in thunder and lightning.
The cloud as it moves accumulate electric charges. The positively charged part of the cloud rises to the top because it is lighter, while the heavier portion of the cloud that is negatively charged sinks to the bottom.
Electrical insulation is provided by air and other dielectric materials in the atmosphere.
Wikipedia Creative Commons: Postively and Negatively Charged Cloud
But once this insulation is broken down, ZAP! Lightning occurs!
Remember the doorknob that gave you a shock when you touched it that I described earlier? It would come into play right now. The lightning here would look for a similar "doorknob" to discharge to.
A Lightning Path
The negative charge could be seen from this slowed down gif initiate descent known as the step leader. As it descends to the ground, an upward positive charge referred to as streamer could be rising.
)
These two channels connect to showcase a lightning strike. You can watch the animated slowed down lightning process detailing the meet between negative charge step leader and the positively charged streamer lighting here.
How strong is a bolt of lightning?
The thunderstorm creates a massive amount of electric voltage in the neighbourhood of two hundred thousand volts (200,000V) to five hundred thousand volts (500,000V) and packing between 1200 amperes to 200,000 amperes in electric current.
The temperature of the air around a lightning stroke is superheated to about 20,000-degree Celsius. That may not seem like much till you realise the surface temperature of the sun is 5,500-degree celcius.
How about the often terrifying sound that trails the lightning referred to as thunder?
As lightning follows a path that is about an inch in diameter, it superheats this air making it expand. As the air cools it contracts. Then surrounding air vibrates due to the supersonic shockwave.
Some Safety Tips During Lightning and Thunder
Outdoors are not safe during lightning.
Stay off the water. Bodies of water such as pool, beach, etc. are never a good area to stay during thunderstorms. The reasons are simple, water is a poor conductor of electricity but still a conductor.
- Try not to be the tallest object in the vicinity. Avoid seeking shelter under tall lone trees. If you stand under a tall tree during lightning, the trees are more susceptible to lightning strikes due to its pointed tip ( electric field are strongest at the tip of every conductor). But trees are not good conductor as our bodies. The lightning current may easily cross over to you and follow the path of least resistance (your body) to the ground. If out on a hike on a mountain, it is safer to head downhill. Taller objects are more likely to be hit by the lightning stroke, but that does not make you safe if you are not the tallest. For example, if a man is standing beside a 5m pole and lightning strikes at that point, the lightning would strike at that 5m pole leaving the man safe. If however, the man is standing more than 5m away from the 5m pole, there is a chance for him to be struck. This distance of five meters, in this case, is called the distance of influence and is roughly equal to the taller object.
Lightning stroke is initiated very high in thunderstorm clouds. Objects on the ground have very little influence on its travelling path, until the stroke comes to a distance very close to the ground. It is true that taller object is more susceptible to lightning because of shorter air gap between the lightning stroke and the object. However, for any attraction effect to come into play, the lightning stroke has to be very close to the object. The distance of influence is roughly equal to the height of the object. For example, a 4-metre pole can only attract lightning strokes which are less than 4 metres away. Therefore, do not assume that you are safe from lightning even if you see something else tall in your vicinity.Source: HongKong Weather Observatory
Stay off tents/open shelter as the frames are usually made of metal which is a conductor of electricity. That is also applicable to stay off objects during thunderstorms such as power lines, chainlink fences, bathtubs, sinks, etc.
Cars are safer. If caught in a thunderstorm staying inside your car is safer since the metal body of the car acts to disperse lightning to the earth. Though not entirely safe, but better than waiting outside.
This infographic has a lot of useful tips on staying safe during lightning.
References:
Heights and lightning are no where good friends. Lighting is a scare, especially to pilots. We refer to it as thunderstorm. Could affect your instrument so badly that could lead to an accident/incident. Awesome post @greenrun.
I heard most commercial airlines are lightning proof, dunno about the light private aeroplanes. Are they covered too?
Most aircraft are. But is not a guarantee safety when they fly into a thunderstorm.
Thought as much. Thanks.
This is very correct, the high voltage and current are the reasons thunder is dangerous. People killed by this means are usually black as a result of the high voltage.
That is very true.
You covered a lot of basics which was taught to us in school but conveniently discarded I suppose - don't stand near talll buildings or trees was one of the standard precautions we were taught.
By the way, a pool is pretty dangerous because it's just pure water that's a bad conductor or electricity and most pools are heavily chlorinated and that makes them a rather good conductor and therefore dangerous ..
You made a good point here.
I keep learning stuffs from you man... "distance of influence" this I've never heard of. Kudos bruv
Thanks a lot man. New things keep cropping up.
I can see why akporo in my area use thunder will fire you as a curse word, because u can't be shielded from it, except you are a child of God.
The sound is always scary
Can this be used as a source of electricity?
Sadly, no. The cost of technology to do that is not worth the effort.
Very informative one... I see people now build their houses with thunder protector. There is this tree though I dont know how true which grew at the compound in my home town anyways, people say it protects against thunder and lightening too. Although I can't tell how that tree came about in the compound though and I can remember us planting it.
But anyways the safety tips you outlined are awesome too, but since we now have the thunder protector, people can fix it at the top of their roof when building their houses especially the tall buildings.
Thank you for sharing.
I doubt a tree could do much protection; instead, a thunder arrester could do more for the protection.
Dont mind those village people, although sometimes what they believe in works for them. Okay the right name is thunder arrester right? Great!
The speed of lightening makes it very deadly. Keeping indoors during heavy storms could save us from the hazard. An informative post. Used to think the tallest object will bear the brunt in the event of lightning discharge. I will have to be very careful this time, likewise everybody else. A great post. Thanks for sharing.
When I was younger my parents used to make a big deal out of lightning...don't stand by the door, don't stand close to the wall...I grew up scared of touching the wall when there is lightning and thunder... I guess they traditionally expressed the dangers in lightning and thunder..
I guess this also explains why there is usually power outage during thunderstorms.
Thanks for sharing...this is really helpful
Your parents know how lightning works. Kudos to them. Power outages are usually deliberate as most of our electric distribution system is by overhead wires and some of them are not as taut as they should. The winds accompanying rain could easily blow the cable together resulting in a short circuit which would blow a fuse. Apart from that, the electrical system has one wire for earthing/lightning protection that serves as a lightning arrestor.
YEAH, I wanted to talk about the power outage during lightening storm too, because I do wonder why will those Electricity engineers do shut out some areas power and there will black-out in all area.
I guess I won't dance next to trees in a lightening storm anymore 😈. That is a good read on what lighting and thunder is. Good work.
Why would you even think of doing that in the first place? :)
That was before my awakening 😎
Lol
Does thunder actually touch the ground?
Yes then bounce back up
Yes, of course, it does touch the ground.
The tips for staying safe are awesome. Thanks for sharing
Thanks a lot
Nice article I was never told or explained like this in the University. Thanks so much alreast now I know this things
We all learn new things every day. Thank you.
Thanks too.i wrote down something's down from this your post
That's nice.
so that's how it follows the path quite interesting to learn this thing
I don't even go outside during a thunderstorm just for prevention's sake.
Thanks
indeed, lightening is not something to be toyed with as it could be catastrophic if one is hit by lightening. i would like to point out that lightening arrestors are also used in houses that lie in the path of lightening and also, lightening can affect solar panels too.
That is the truth. I will talk about that in a subsequent post.
This is interesting and amazing!!! I remember my Secondary schools days when we have debate on effect of lighting on human life. Thanks for sharing!!!
@temmy8284
This post resonates with what our parents(nigerian) used to say that you should not stand by the entrance of the door when its raining. You actually did good justice to this.
Thank you for reading
Cars are safer? I didn't know that. Very educative post.
It is safer than standing out in the open with nothing as cover.
stay safe people don't get blazed by blazing lighting :D
:)
Okay now I know better than to run off into the rain during a rainstorm singing and dancing while trying to mimic those Indian actors and actresses. Good read and thanks for sharing. You just saved a life!
Lol
@mimy, I know you are guilty too of @blessing97 antics :)
@blessing97 lol
@greenrun thank you alot
@nickibanjlady Upvoted this postThanks for the compliment.
Hello @greenrun
Oops! Staying near a tall object during lightening storm is harmful?
Jeez!
Back then, during lightening storm, the kids in the house do bath under the rain and hide under tree when it start lightening but I will caution them henceforth.
I was told but not make proper research on it that backing a wall during lightening storm is bad too and can harm too.
I hope this is not a superstitious story been told.
@bollutech
There is no superstition. All science with references that are verifiable.
So what you are telling me now is that , sitting while backing the wall or backing the wall of the house when it's lightening storm is very harmful to health.
And this will definitely relate to @turpsy comment that , we were told not to sit/ stand at the entrance of the door when it's raining.
Learning never end. Thank
I did not mention any such thing in my article.
I mean what Nigerians parent do tell their children not talking on the article here
@bollutech Ok. My parents, who are Nigerians by the way, never told me any.
Perhaps they think you don't need it because you're kind and another for me of wiki.
Till today, mother will say doing this is a taboo in Yoruba land and other stuff like that
Sometimes during lightening, staying safe may be purely on divine Providence
Wow, very insightful and valuable information. I'm loving your page!
Just one question. Does lightning kill people when they get struck by it? Great post BTW
I hope you read where I mentioned the tremendous power that flows when it occurs. To answer your question, yes, lightning could kill.
I did read it though. I wanted to see it in actual words. Thank you.
thanks for the tips brother, rainy season is almost upon us here in Nigeria
Thank you too for reading.
science the best, great post, thanks for sharing following up voted
science thought!
Thunder and Lightning: Why Standing Beside a Taller Object Won't Keep You Safe
woooooooooooow
just love this topic
my upvote is your ...just stop by on my blog and see mine ....only got something for 2018 only for now
Myths must be discarded.The truth has been told here.This post remind me of the precaution we were taught in secondary School. Great work @greenrun
or find a taller man than you, stand next to him and let the magic happen :p
greenrun!! Thank you, your Post.
This is educating 💯💯💯
Thanks for sharing this bruv
I must say 🙌 You really insightful @greenrun
Just got to know about "distance of influence" from your post. Never heard of it before.