All Questions
Tagged with electricity lightning
116 questions
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Do flourescent tube lights create magnetic fields like other conductors?
So, does every electron flow also have a corresponding magnetic field to go along with it, or is magnetic fields only a property of solid metal conductors?
Also, what about lightning?
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About lightning and lightning conductor
Lightning not only strikes on a lightning conductor installed on the building... Lightning can strike anywhere on the surface roof of the building even though that building has installed a lightning ...
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Why does positive cloud-to-ground lightning have no branches?
I have been learning about the physics of lightning lately. Several sources (for example, the book Lightning: Physics and Effects by Vladimir A. Rakov and Martin A. Uman) state that positive cloud-to-...
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How did a spark generate electromagnetic fields that radiate to places?
In the video and pictures below, this guy is trying to replicate Hertz's experiment to generate electromagnetic fields from a dipole antenna. How did a spark generate electromagnetic fields? I thought ...
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Search for a way to sustain lightning electricity [closed]
Is it possible to sustain lightning electricity through lightning rods?
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Can a pointed lightning rod prevent a lightning strike?
Will a pointed lightning rod disperse the ground charge into the air sufficient enough to prevent the ground charge from building and attracting a lightning bolt?
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How are electric sparks produced?
Here's what I have understood so far.
(Im talking about electric spark we see in a gas lighter,as shown in the picture)
When high voltage is generated at the central metal piece, electrons fly off ...
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In a van de Graaf generator, when a spark happens, is an electromagnetic wave produced? If yes, in which direction?
In a van de Graaf generator, when a spark happens, electrons moves from one globe to the other globe.
Is an electromagnetic wave produced?
If an electromagnetic wave is produced, why is it produced?
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Simulated nuclear blast using electric arcs
"Nuclear bombs" have some distinct associated phenomena. They produce loud bangs. They produce bright flashes of light. They produce bursts of gamma radiation.
These phenomena are diagnostic ...
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What is the maximum voltage gradient between two electrodes? [closed]
What is the maximum voltage gradient between two electrodes?
It would be great if you put the reference to your answer.
UPDATE
Our environment is vacuum.
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Does the power state of an electrical device affect its likelihood of being struck by lightning?
Holidaying in the tropics, I have come across the following behaviors which are all intended to reduce the likelihood of attracting a lightning strike when in a storm.
Turning off the CD player/radio ...
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Reasoning why the lightning shocks doesnt cause any shocks to a person inside car if the conditon is not fully electrostatic
I am just confirming here how the concept of electrostatic shielding helps in preventing lightining to be not getting into the car inside .
So we know car has a metal body outside , so first consider ...
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What happens to the positive charges in the cloud after a lightning discharge?
The clouds before a lightning strike contains ice crystal at upper part of the cloud that is positively charged and lower part of the cloud becomes negatively charged. When enough electrons ...
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What causes the behavior of this lightning flash?
I saw a "strange" behavior in the recording made by an ultrafast video camera. We can see a lightning flash growing dim, the growing bright a few times before it's gone. How can this happen? ...
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Dielectric breakdown voltage of air vs electric field during a thunderstorm
The dielectric strength of air (ie. the maximum electric field that the material can withstand under ideal conditions without undergoing electrical breakdown and becoming electrically conductive) is 3 ...
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Danger to swimmer from lightning?
Having been swimming a few times recently when a thunderstorm developed, I've started wondering what the actual dangers are (please note - I'm more interested in this from a science perspective; I get ...
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Effect of one lightning on its consecutive lightning
When lightning strikes several times in one area, I wonder if the first lightning strike affects the next lightning. For example, when lightning strikes a point $A$, does the next lightning have a ...
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What makes the speed of lightning different to the speed of light?
The difference between light and lightning, their different speeds and a reason why the speeds differ
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Energy of each electron in a lightning bolt
I have read that lightning bolts have a difference of potential of 300 Mega Volts. Does it mean that the electrons in the cloud have an energy of 300MeV each? I found that astonishing since that ...
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If the earth is negatively charged why is lightning striking it?
So, as far as I know, the Earth is negatively charged, and there are such things as lightning strikes which travel from clouds to the Earth- that would mean the clouds in a thunderstorm are positively ...
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Would electricity be able to make a gamma ray?
I read that lightning creates gamma rays, but i'm not sure if it would be possible to have a capacitor that powerful to make a gamma ray.
If this is possible, how efficient would such a process be?
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Why doesn't lightning stop when it starts raining?
According to my understanding, lightning happens because the clouds get charged due to friction from the moving clouds and the ground gets polarized by the nearby charged clouds. And the two opposite ...
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Lightning's tendency to find a tall point on the ground
Is lightning's tendency to connect to a high point on the ground due to probability in the colloquial sense, or is there some sort of electromagnetic stream of "information" exchanged ...
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Does electric current still remain a scalar quantity even while talking about electric arcs/ discharge?
Current is said to be a scalar quantity because it's direction is determined by the direction of the wire/conductor. But in certain cases electrical currents flow through some materials which are ...
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Why do lightnings generated by a tesla coil also move upwards?
I was recently watching some videos of Tesla coils, and the behavior of the rays caught my attention. In the picture below, you can see how the coil is emitting lightnings, some of them towards the ...
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Why does the electricity go off during a thunderstorm? [closed]
I don't see a convincing reason why electricity should go off during a thunderstorm. I am not talking about a transformer blowing off and causing a permanent power cut, but a temporary one, lasting ...
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Can vacuum breakdown occur from a positively charged surface?
Against a sufficiently large voltage, resistance is futile.
Although the vacuum is a very good insulator, electrical breakdown can occur even in a perfect vacuum in the presence of a very strong ...
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Can lightning be used as a source of energy? [duplicate]
Is it possible to use lightning or thunder as a source of energy, with the help of dielectric breakdown and splitting?
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296
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Why does lightning strike lightning rods sometimes?
I watched some videos and read a lot of posts mentioned that pointy shaped objects create denser electric field than other objects (especially spherical ones), that's why people use pointy and ...
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What is the difference between electric spark and electric arc?
In my student book they separate these two and indicate that sparks need high voltage to occur while arcs need low voltage with normal or low pressure and electric arcs CAN come with heat and bright ...
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Why the Earth isn't negatively charged? [duplicate]
As electricity is transferred in earth by earthing and lightning, why it does not become negatively charged?
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The minimum electric field for corona discharge at atmospheric pressure is $3\times10^6\,{\rm V/m}$. How is this calculated?
I saw this number on Wikipedia and other videos, but the calculation part is no where to be seen. Can someone explain how this value is calculated?
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Can the arc from a Tesla coil or plasma from a high powered plasma orb be redirected with an electromagnet?
So I was wondering if you could use electromagnets to redirect the electric arcs created by a Tesla coil or the plasma arcs from a high powered plasma ball so you can control the direction it is going....
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What causes the noise when you get an electric shock?
When we get a minor static electric shock, we often hear a noise associated with the shock.
Or for example, when you swat a fly with a zapper, you can hear a noise from the electric transfer.
What ...
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Arc discharge and dielectric breakdown - are these the same phenomena?
Arc discharge and dielectric breakdown - are these the same phenomena?
With the subtle distinction, arc discharge generally occurs in the gaseous state and dielectric breakdown in condensed matter.
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How much energy is transferred to a human hit by lightning?
Wikipedia tells me that a bolt of lightning releases roughly 1 GJ of energy, but I'm guessing that's along the entire length of the bolt and that most of it is dissipated as heat and light to the ...
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How unsafe is lightning? [closed]
Given our extensive use of wireless/wired technology (mobile phones, chargers, etc.), how dangerous is it to use these amidst a thunderstorm? Is it dangerous enough to consider avoiding? Is there a ...
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Would rubber shoes offer any form of protection against cloud-to-ground lightning strikes?
I was reading an article from abcnews about Why so many people survive being struck by lightning. Later in the article it says the following:
But direct strikes make up only a minuscule portion of ...
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Why do my lights become brighter during a thunderstorm?
Today, during a thunderstorm, the lamps in the room suddenly flickered and then gradually became brighter in less than a second. The lamps remained brighter than normal for a few seconds before ...
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What will happen when lightning strikes a zeppelin?
I know airplanes have an aluminium outer body that lets lightning just slide through the outer surface and not causing much damage. But what will happen in the case of a zepplin?
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Does Low Temperature Attract Negatively Charged Particles?
I'm studying the effects of temperature in producing electricity like in clouds that produces lightning. Since dark clouds during a thunderstorm is below freezing point, it attracts negatively charged ...
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Could you transmit electricity wirelessly?
Since you can wiggle an electron to get a radio wave And if you 'wiggle' it fast enough you get higher and higher frequency right? So couldn't you just broadcast an electromagnetic beam or whatever ...
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Why can't we harness the energy of lightning? [duplicate]
Studying capacitors, this question struck me. If we know that there is a large potential difference between the ground and the atmosphere, why dont we use that to power our machinery? I understand ...
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Why can't we generate electricity from Earth's electric field?
This may be very silly, but I need to understand this to get my concepts right.
Consider the fact that the electric field b/w the Earth's surface and the ionosphere is on an average $100$ V/m, then ...
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Lightning through helium gas
Assuming that some distant planet had an atmosphere of helium and(due to extremely cold temperatures) a "water cycle" of neon, what would happen if the theoretical neon clouds acted in a ...
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Lightning in space, would it be a perfectly straight line?
I have read this question:
Can lightning happen in a vacuum?
I do understand that here on Earth lightning consists of electrons moving in space and some of these electrons are tracing path, and ...
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What causes the color difference of lightning flashes?
Some flashes of lightning are seen in a blue shade while some have a yellowish/orange appearance .What is the possible cause of colour difference?
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What causes the direction of lightning flashes?
During a lightning strike, the flashes appear as cloud to ground or cloud to cloud. Why is this the only manner of propagation? Why do the flashes not go upwards from the clouds into the sky?
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What could cause a small shock from an umbrella being held near a lightning strike?
I was just outside holding an umbrella when lightning struck very close by. In the instant it struck, I saw and felt a little shock from the shaft of the umbrella into my thumb. It felt quite small.. ...
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What would happen if lightning struck a salt deposit?
I'm not familiar with the formulae involved in lightning discharge, so please bear with me here.
As far as I'm aware, lightning (that is, cloud-to-ground lightning) tends to do one of three things, ...
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