Lightening-A mighty force of nature

Lightning is a powerful force. It can blind you, sometimes even makes you scared. What is it and how is it formed? We will see that and so much more in this article.

WHAT IS LIGHTNING AND HOW IS IT FORMED?

Well lightening is that big spark you see during a storm, that big outburst of electricity that probably scares you.

So how is it formed? Well during storms, friction happens between the bottom of the clouds and the ground. The bottom of the clouds has negative electrons and the ground has positive electrons. You know what they say: "opposite attracts". The positive and negative electrons attract each other and then form a big spark which you see as lightning. Sometimes, it can be cloud to cloud or cloud to air. We will talk about that later on. Don't forget, thunder is the later sound byou get after lightning. This is because as we all know, light is faster than sound. 

HOW POWERFUL IS LIGHTNING?

According to national geographic, about a 100 strike Earth's surface ever single second. And that each bolt can contain up to one billion volts of electricity.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/lightning

But can it be harnessed? Well no. The duration is very short. Ofcourse lightning is very fast so it may not be possible to harness.

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF LIGHTNING?

Well there are different types but I'm going to talk about three. Well as said before, lightning can happen cloud to ground, cloud to cloud or even cloud to air.

Well the cloud to ground has been explained at the beginning of this article.

Cloud to cloud

 It is just like the cloud ground, but this time this happens when the negative electrons at the bottom of a cloud is attracted to the positive electrons at the bottom of another cloud.

Cloud to air?

Well according to Royal meteorological society, this is when a discharge jumps from a cloud into clear air.

HOW DOES LIGHTNING AFFECT OUR ENVIRONMENT?

Well according to science news for students.org, lightning plays a good role in clearing air pollutants.

 Lightning also helps plants grow. How? Lightning breaks free nitrogen atoms which combines with oxygen atoms to form nitrates which will then be carried down to earth by rain. This helps plants grow. 

 HOW ARE VEHICLES AND AIR CRAFTS PROTECTED FROM LIGHTNING?

Well you know faraday's cage? That same principle is used. Have a ever seen a car get struck by lightning? Well I have and nothing happened. When a car or a plane gets struck by lightning, the charges go round the vehicle, this protecting the people inside an nothing happens to the vehicle. Have you ever seen a call iron rid at the top of your roof? Well it is there to protect your house from the lightening. How? It provides a path for the charges to go round your house and into the ground. This protects you. That is why it is necessary to have a earthing system in house. It will protect you.

Thunder is a powerful force of nature. It has it's good sides and bad sides so appreciate it and definitely protect yourself from it.