Why does it thunder and sparkle? What is thunder? Thunder and lightning are a terrifying natural phenomenon
A thunderstorm is a frightening phenomenon. No matter where we are. At home or on the street. Still scary. The dazzling glare and the rolling roar are frightening. The sounds seem to be catching up with each other, now approaching, now moving away. In ancient times, people considered the heavenly roar to be the wrath of the gods. And lightning is a punishing sword. But we understand that there is a more earthly explanation for these phenomena. Why is there thunder? Why is he inseparable from lightning? Why does it rain during a thunderstorm?
How are thunderclouds formed?
There is water in the atmospheric air. In the form of steam. Under the influence of high air temperature, warm steam rises from the water surface of the earth. Warm air pushes it from below.
In the upper layers of the atmosphere the temperature is lower. The higher the water vapor rises, the colder the environment around it becomes. Accordingly, it cools down.
There are more than just gases and water in the atmosphere. There is also dust. Cooled steam condenses around its smallest particles. Small water droplets and pieces of ice turn into clouds. They are different. In the form of feathers or huge heaps, white stripes on the heavenly slope or torn rags.
Thunderclouds are formed due to the collision of air masses. Then many, many water crystals collect in the upper part. It turns out to be a kind of white dense veil. It illuminates the entire cloud with cold, which takes on a rich leaden shade. That’s why we call such clouds “lead,” “heavy.”
Spawn of Thunder and Lightning
Thunderclouds give birth to Bliskawitz. And lightning, in turn, is a heavenly roar. How does this happen? Why is there thunder?
1. Droplets and pieces of ice at the top of a thundercloud interact with air molecules and become charged with electricity. When they get heavy, they fall down. So the lower part of the cloud becomes negatively charged.
2. At the same time, a positive charge accumulates at the top of the cloud. And plus and minus attract.
3. Under the influence of the attraction of positive and negative, tension arises. Taking into account the size of the cloud (up to ten kilometers wide), this voltage reaches hundreds of millions of volts. This is how lightning is born.
4. A spark that appears from a cloud follows to the ground. Her temperature is enormous - more than twenty degrees. As a result of the rapid movement of the fiery arrow, great pressure is created in the atmosphere. And immediately behind it, the air sharply compresses, returning to its original state. The result is an explosive sound. This is how thunder is born.
Frequently asked questions:
Why do we first see lightning and then hear the sound of thunder?
Because the speed of light is hundreds of millions of times faster than the speed of sound.
Why do we hear thunder?
Because sound waves encounter various obstacles on their way (clouds, earth) and are reflected from them. This happens many times. Hence the rolling thunder sounds.
Sometimes we see bliskavitsa, but do not hear the thunder. Why?
The thunderstorm is too far from us, more than twenty kilometers.
What is thunder? Thunder is the sound that accompanies a lightning strike during a thunderstorm. Sounds simple enough, but why does lightning sound the way it does? Any sound consists of vibrations that create sound waves in the air. Lightning is a huge bolt of electricity that shoots through the air, causing vibrations. Many people have repeatedly wondered where lightning and thunder come from and why thunder precedes lightning. There are quite understandable reasons for this phenomenon.
How does thunder thunder?
Electricity passes through the air and causes air particles to vibrate. Lightning is accompanied by incredibly high temperatures, so the air around it also becomes very hot. Hot air expands, increasing the strength and number of vibrations. What is thunder? These are the sound vibrations that occur during lightning strikes.
Why does thunder not thunder at the same time as lightning?
We see lightning before we hear thunder because light travels faster than sound. There is an old myth that by counting the seconds between a flash of lightning and thunder, you can find out the distance to where the storm is raging. However, from a mathematical point of view, this assumption has no scientific basis, since the speed of sound is approximately 330 meters per second.
Thus, for thunder to travel one kilometer, it will take 3 seconds. Therefore, it would be more correct to count the number of seconds between the flash of lightning and the sound of thunder, and then divide this number by five, this will be the distance to the thunderstorm.
This mysterious phenomenon is lightning
The heat from lightning's electricity raises the temperature of the surrounding air to 27,000°C. Since lightning moves at incredible speeds, the heated air simply does not have time to expand. The heated air is compressed, its atmospheric pressure increases several times and becomes from 10 to 100 times higher than normal. Compressed air rushes out from the lightning channel, forming a shock wave of compressed particles in each direction. Like an explosion, quickly moving waves of compressed air create a loud, booming burst of noise.
Based on the fact that electricity follows the shortest path, the predominant number of lightning strikes are close to vertical. However, lightning can also branch, as a result of which the sound color of the thunder roar also changes. Shock waves from different lightning forks bounce off each other, and low-hanging clouds and nearby hills help create the continuous rumble of thunder. Why is there thunder? Thunder is caused by the rapid expansion of air surrounding the lightning path.
What causes lightning?
Lightning is an electric current. Inside a thundercloud high in the sky, numerous small pieces of ice (frozen raindrops) collide with each other as they move through the air. All these collisions create an electrical charge. After some time, the whole cloud is filled with electrical charges. Positive charges, protons, form at the top of the cloud, and negative charges, electrons, form at the bottom of the cloud. And as we know, opposites attract. The main electrical charge is concentrated around everything that protrudes above the surface. These could be mountains, people or lonely trees. The charge goes up from these points and eventually combines with the charge going down from the clouds.
What causes thunder?
What is thunder? This is the sound caused by lightning, which is essentially a stream of electrons flowing between or within a cloud, or between a cloud and the ground. The air around these streams heats up to such an extent that it becomes three times hotter than the surface of the Sun. Simply put, lightning is a bright flash of electricity.
This stunning and at the same time terrifying spectacle of thunder and lightning is a combination of dynamic vibrations of air molecules and their disruption through electrical forces. This magnificent show once again reminds everyone of the powerful force of nature. If you heard the roar of thunder, lightning will soon flash; it is better not to be outside at this time.
Thunder: Fun Facts
- You can judge how close the lightning is by counting the seconds between the flash and the clap of thunder. For every second there are about 300 meters.
- During a large thunderstorm, seeing lightning and hearing thunder is a common occurrence; thunder during snowfall is very rare.
- Lightning is not always accompanied by thunder. In April 1885, five lightning bolts struck the Washington Monument during a thunderstorm, but no one heard the thunder.
Be careful, lightning!
Lightning is a rather dangerous natural phenomenon, and it is better to stay away from it. When indoors during a thunderstorm, you should avoid water. It is an excellent conductor of electricity, so do not shower, wash your hands, wash dishes or do laundry. Do not use the telephone, as lightning may strike external telephone lines. Do not turn on electrical equipment, computers, or household appliances during a storm. Knowing what thunder and lightning are, it is important to behave correctly if suddenly a thunderstorm takes you by surprise. You should stay away from windows and doors. If someone is struck by lightning, they need to call for help and an ambulance.
Why does thunder roar and lightning flash?
Many people are afraid of thunderstorms. This is truly scary. Dark gloomy clouds cover the sun, thunder rumbles, lightning flashes, and then heavy rain begins. What's going on up there and where do the thunder and lightning come from?
I love thunderstorms at the beginning of May,
When spring, the first thunder,
As if frolicking and playing,
Rumbling in the blue sky.
Young peals thunder,
The rain is splashing, the dust is flying,
Rain pearls hung,
And the sun gilds the threads.
A swift stream runs down the mountain,
The noise of birds in the forest is not silent,
And the din of the forest and the noise of the mountains -
Everything cheerfully echoes the thunder.
You will say: windy Hebe,
Feeding Zeus's eagle,
A thunderous goblet from the sky,
Laughing, she spilled it on the ground.
The poet was undoubtedly right at least in that thunder can be heard mainly only during a thunderstorm. Since time immemorial, people have perceived thunder and lightning as a manifestation of the wrath of the Gods, and, somewhere deep within us, this superstitious fear of this phenomenon still sits. How does science today explain why thunder thunders?
It turns out that the water vapor that forms the clouds accumulates electrical charges, which form a significant potential difference between the ground and the clouds.
The thunderclouds are huge. Usually their height is several kilometers. We can’t see it from the ground, but inside the thunderclouds everything is boiling and seething. Air flows in them quickly move from top to bottom and from bottom to top. At the very top of these clouds it is very cold, up to -40 degrees. Droplets of water, which actually make up thunderclouds, fall to the top and freeze. They produce pieces of ice that fly inside the clouds at great speed, collide, break apart and become charged with electricity. Smaller and lighter pieces of ice remain at the top. And the larger ones go down and melt, turning back into droplets of water. So it turns out that two electric charges are formed in a thundercloud - negative at the top and positive at the bottom.
The air between them plays a kind of dielectric role in a huge capacitor. When the electric charge becomes critical, lightning occurs, which discharges the cloud to the ground. And when a discharge occurs, lightning strikes the ground in a split second, heating the air along its path to a temperature of thousands of degrees Celsius. We hear air vibrations in places where lightning passes as thunder. And the booming sound is due to the fact that the speed of sound is low, and the length of lightning is sometimes several kilometers. Therefore, lightning will strike the ground a long time ago, and only after a few seconds we will begin to hear the long sound of thunder reaching us from various layers of air along the path of lightning.
Knowing the time that elapses between the flash of lightning and the clap of thunder, you can approximately determine the distance at which the thunderstorm is located. The speed of light is several orders of magnitude higher than the speed of sound; it can be neglected and only the speed of sound, which is 300-360 meters per second, taken into account. That is, if thunder was heard a second after a lightning strike, then the thunderstorm is about a kilometer away. Typically, thunder can be heard at a distance of up to 15-20 kilometers, so if an observer sees lightning but does not hear thunder, then the thunderstorm is more than 20 kilometers away.
It’s so simple, you ask, where is the mysticism? The thing is that scientists still cannot fully explain one important question: how electricity accumulates in clouds and a potential difference arises. There are suggestions that ionization of the atmosphere for the discharge occurs under the influence of high-energy cosmic radiation.
We are amazed when lightning “rips” the sky. You can suffer from this formidable weapon of nature anywhere, even in a car or inside a building. Over 8,000,000 lightning strikes strike the surface of our planet every day. This is one of nature's most deadly weapons. The natural force contained in lightning can turn sand into a glassy mass and evaporate water from wood. You can devote your life to studying this phenomenon, or you can get real pleasure from contemplating lightning.
But you should still be afraid of lightning. Because it can kill or cause a fire. People have learned to protect their homes from lightning. To do this, they use metal poles that attract electricity and conduct it into the ground. But if a thunderstorm finds you in a forest or field, do not hide under tall trees. After all, they are the ones who attract lightning to themselves in the first place.
I really love autumn. This is the time of year when the unbearable summer heat recedes, and the landscapes acquire the most magical colors. I love it when raindrops knock on the window, and I watch an interesting film with tea and under a warm blanket. But sometimes this idyll is disrupted by a loud roar of thunder and bright flashes of lightning. These phenomena can instill fear and horror.
Why are people afraid of thunder
Probably everything lies in our consciousness, because even in the most ancient times people regarded such phenomena as thunder and lightning, punishment of the gods and they were greatly feared. Thunder instilled fear in people for the following reasons:
- they believed in existence thunder god who sent a curse on people;
- believed in existence the giant who lives in the sky, andif he is angered, he will shoot his fiery arrows;
- and there was even an opinion that thunder is a precursor to disease and misfortune.
Of course, now no one perceives thunder as heavenly punishment, but perhaps it was the fear of our ancestors that was passed on to us at the genetic level.
Why do we hear thunder
As I learned later, thunder is a phenomenon in the atmosphere that occurs together with a lightning discharge and is a sound wave that lasts for several seconds. The thing is that air currents move very quickly inside thunderclouds. Above these clouds temperature reaches 40 degrees below zero. When water droplets rise to the top, they freeze. These frozen pieces of ice move inside the cloud at tremendous speed. When they hit each other, they disintegrate and become charged with electricity. Smaller pieces of ice are held at the top of the cloud, and large pieces of ice descend and thaw, becoming drops of water again. So it turns out that inside the cloud positive and negative charges are simultaneously created. And if they collide, then it arises strong electrical discharge, i.e. lightning. Lightning, in turn, very quickly heats up its surroundings air to such an extent that he is torn. This explosion is, in our understanding, nothing more than thunder.
But the most interesting thing for me was the fact that we hear not one such shock wave, but several. This is popularly called "a clap of thunder" which is very similar to the roar of rolling barrels in the sky. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the sound waves of the shock wave encounter various obstacles in their path and are reflected from them. It is very important to understand that thunder is actually just sound Effect, which you should not be afraid of at all. However, you should be wary of the phenomenon that accompanies it - lightning, which is very dangerous and can pose a threat to life. Therefore, under no circumstances walk down the street during lightning. Take care of yourself!
Thunderclouds are a huge mass of many drops of water. Air currents cause the clouds to move, and during this movement they become electrically charged. When this charge becomes too large, a discharge occurs. Lightning, which we see jumping between the sky and the earth, discharges the clouds, but at the same time the air heats up, resulting in an “explosion”. This explosion is accompanied by a loud sound, which is called thunder. However, Why does thunder not just sound like a single clap?, and long-term peals?
There is a simple explanation for this. Lightning can be several kilometers long, and we see it immediately and completely. Since the speed of light is much greater than the speed of sound, we hear thunder after a certain period of time and not immediately, but in waves, that is, peals.
Now it becomes clear why does thunder roar rumbles and thanks to this feature you can calculate how many kilometers away a thunderstorm is from you. To do this, you need to count the time between lightning and the first clap of thunder. Every three seconds is equal to one kilometer, so you need to divide the calculated time by three, and the result will be exactly the distance at which lightning struck from you.
During a thunderstorm, it is best to stay at home, however, if it catches you on the street, then under no circumstances should you hide from it under a tree. As studies have shown, lightning strikes a tall, pointed object, which is why lightning rods are made long and sharp.