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Lightning is a beautiful display of nature which at times can also be deadly. It can be defined as the visible discharge of electricity that occurs when a specific region of a cloud acquires an excess of electrical charge which is either positive or negative in nature. It is usually associated with thunderclouds. When the clouds are present in the sky, the natural bolts of light we observe in the stormy weather is known as lightning. Lightning works on the principle of static electricity i.e. the phenomenon of transfer of charges when two things are rubbed with each other. In this article, we will look at lightning, its phenomenon, its occurrence, and a lot more.
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| Table of Contents |
Key Takeaways: Lightning, Static Electricity, Charges, Clouds, Positive and negative charges, Electrons, Conductor, Resistance
What is Lightning?
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Lightning is a natural phenomenon in which the electric charges travel from one point to another in between the clouds or between clouds and the Earth. It appears to be a beautiful display, however, as the lightning carries a large amount of electric charge, it is deadly as it can destroy things and lifeforms within a few seconds of striking them.
Lightning
During lightning, the electrons are in motion as they travel through a conducting path from one cloud to another in order to balance out the difference of charges. It can also take place between the cloud and the ground. When the clouds that are negatively charged gather a lot of electrons, they find a way to release the excess of the negative charge they possess.
When they come in contact with a neutral or a positively charged body, they release the excess electrons. Now, when this large amount of charge is released through a conducting path, the air that is present gets heated up very fast and therefore is expanded. This results in the thundering sounds during lightning.
Lightning
The experiments done by Benjamin Franklin helped us understand how lightning occurs. It was found that the uppermost part of a cloud loses electrons and in turn, gathers positive charges while the lower part becomes negatively charged by gaining electrons. When a connection is established between the two parts, the excess electrons present in the lower portion travel upwards and as a result of this lightning occurs.
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How Lightning Occurs?
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Lightning takes place in the following sequential manner:
- Mainly, lightning occurs due to the production of electric charges due to the rubbing of two things.
- When a thunderstorm occurs, the air currents move in the upward direction while the water droplets are in a downward motion.
- Therefore, as a result of this process, the positive charges are collected near the uppermost part.
- The negative charges are collected near the ground and also in the lower part of the clouds.
- The magnitude of the charge keeps increasing as it is accumulated in the clouds. The water droplets present in the air act as a conductor to this charge.
- The flow of charges takes place which produces thunder and strikes of lightning.
- This phenomenon can only take place in the presence of a high electric potential between the two regions of the cloud or any two surfaces along with a high resistance medium.
Occurence of lightning
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Who Discovered the Nature of Lightning?
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An American scientist, Benjamin Franklin, performed an experiment in the year 1752 with the help of a conductor and a kite. On a stormy day, he went outside to fly a kite. The conductor that was attached to the kite was able to detect the charge in the atmosphere. It took 100 years for people to believe his inferences. This is because earlier, people used to believe that some kind of supernatural power was responsible for lightning. With the help of a few experiments performed later, it was concluded that lightning is mainly the result of a fast flow of a huge amount of electric charges.
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Types of Lightning
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There are mainly four types of lightning which are divided into sub-categories further. These are:
- Cloud To Cloud Lightning (CC): The discharge between the clouds i.e. from one cloud to another is known as the cloud to cloud lightning. This lightning does not reach the ground.
- Cloud To Ground Lightning (CG): The discharge between the clouds and the ground leads to cloud-to-ground lightning. This type of lightning is highly harmful and dangerous as it strikes the ground and therefore poses risk to property and life on the ground.
- Ground To Cloud Lightning (GC): It is also referred to as upward-moving lightning. Ground to cloud lightning is highly common on skyscrapers and tall towers. The polarity of this lightning can either be positive or negative.
- Intracloud Lightning (IC): It is a common type of lightning in clouds having both positive and negative charges within them. As the name suggests, this lightning takes place within the cloud itself.
Types of Lightning
Other types of lightning are:
- Anvil Crawler Lightning
- Ball Lightning
- Bead Lightning
- Blue Jet
- Clear Air Lightning
- Cloud to Air Lightning
- Dry Lightning
- Forked Lightning
- Heat Lightning
- Red Sprite
- Ribbon Lightning
- Sheet Lightning
- Smooth Channel Lightning
- Stacatto
- Superbolts
- Sympathetic Lightning
Key Points and Facts related to Lightning
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- During lightning, the flow of electrons takes place. This phenomenon results in an increase in the temperature of the air to about 27,000oC.
- When lightning strikes the ground, a hole known as a channel is formed in the air which is stretched from the source of the transfer to the receiver.
- The sound of thunder is caused when this hole or channel collapses as a result of the quick expansion of the air around and inside the channel.
- The air currents move in the upward direction and when rainfall falls against that motion, it causes a transfer of electrons which leads to a difference in charges. When this accumulated charge is transferred, lightning is caused.
- The frequency of lightning hitting the ground or the Earth is around 40 to 50 times a second.
Things to Remember
- Lightning can be defined as the visible discharge of electricity that occurs when a specific region of a cloud acquires an excess of electrical charge which is either positive or negative in nature.
- The experiments done by Benjamin Franklin helped us understand how lightning occurs.
- Mainly, lightning occurs due to the production of electric charges due to the rubbing of two things.
- This phenomenon can only take place in the presence of a high electric potential between the two regions of the cloud or any two surfaces along with a high resistance medium.
- The air currents move in the upward direction and when rainfall falls against that motion, it causes a transfer of electrons which leads to a difference in charges. When this accumulated charge is transferred, lightning is caused.
Also learn: Who Invented Electricity?
Sample Questions
Ques. Explain the process of lightning? How does it strike? (5 marks)
Ans. Lightning is a kind of electric spark that takes place on a huge scale. It is caused as a result of the accumulation of charges, both positive and negative charges, within the clouds. When two clouds that carry opposite charges are in close contact with each other, the charges present in them flow from one cloud to the another one through the air that is present between them. As a result of the transfer of these charges, a bright spark is produced. This bright spark is known as lightning. It can take place when electric charges transfer or flow from one part of the cloud to another part or when they transfer from the cloud to the ground.
Lightning also accompanies high temperatures and a large amount of electric charges. Heat is produced in large amounts and this leads to the sudden expansion of air that leads to vibration which further results in the sound of thunder.
Ques. What safety measures must be followed during a thunderstorm and lightning? (4 marks)
Ans. The safety measures or precautions that must be followed to be safe from lightning and thunderstorm are as stated below:
- Avoid open places as they are not safe. Look for houses or buildings to take shelter. If you are traveling by bus or car, it is safer to stay inside vehicles with closed windows and shut doors.
- Open vehicles such as tractors, motorbikes, construction machinery, or open places like fields, parks, tall trees should be avoided as they are not safe.
- If one is outside and no shelter is available, one should steer clear of all the big trees, poles, and other metal objects.
- Contact with telephone cords, metal pipes, and wires should be avoided.
Ques. What is a lightning conductor? (5 marks)
Ans. A lightning conductor refers to a device that is used to protect any building from the impact of lightning. A lightning conductor is formed from a thick metal strip which is usually made of copper. The upper part of the conductor is in a pointed form like spikes and is located above the highest existing point of the building. The thick metal strip runs from the top of the building along the outer wall to the ground. The lowermost part of the lightning conductor is joined to a metal plate and is buried underground close to the base of the building.
Lightning Conductor
When the lightning strikes the building, it hits the top of the lightning conductor. The electrical energy of the lightning is passed through the metal strip until it safely gets discharged into the ground through the lower part of the lightning conductor that is buried in the ground.
If a building is not protected with a lightning conductor, the tremendous effect of electric energy that is produced during lightning will pass through the walls of the building. This can cause damage to the material of the walls and make it unsafe for the residents of the building. In extreme cases, it can also set the building on fire.
Ques. Why is it not safe to go out with an umbrella when there is heavy rain, lightning, or thunder? (3 marks)
Ans. Thunder or heavy rain is often accompanied by lightning. Lightning can basically be understood as the discharge of a huge amount of electric charges that were accumulated in the clouds towards the ground. These electric charges can be transferred to the person carrying an umbrella through the metallic rod of the umbrella. Due to this, the person might experience severe electric shock and can also die. Therefore, it is not advisable to go out with an umbrella when there is heavy rain, lightning, or thunder.
Ques. Why at times lightning is seen before thunder? (2 marks)
Ans. Sometimes, we can see lightning even before we can hear the thunder. This is because the distance that exists between the clouds and the surface is sufficiently long. We know that the speed of light is faster than the speed of sound. Therefore, there is a time interval or gap between seeing lightning and hearing the thunder.
Ques. Where does lightning strike? (5 marks)
Ans. Most of the lightning flashes that are produced by the storms are originated inside the cloud. When a lightning flash strikes the ground, a channel is formed downwards towards its surface. Eventually, the objects such as bushes, buildings, and trees send up sparks to meet the channel being developed above. When one of these sparks connects, a large amount of electric current surges to the channel towards the object which produces the spark. Tall objects such as skyscrapers and big trees, therefore, are more likely than the ground to produce a connecting spark and hence are more vulnerable to being struck by lightning. Mountains are also more likely an easy target. Lightning can also strike the ground at times even if the tree lines are close by.
Ques. Explain the process of electric discharge. (3 marks)
Ans. When a thunderstorm is developed, the air currents move in the upward direction while the droplets of water move downwards. This vigorous movement of air currents leads to a separation of electric charges. A process takes place during which the positive charges are accumulated near the upper portions of the cloud while the negative charges are collected in the lower portions. Positive charges are collected near the ground too. When the magnitude of this charge that is collected becomes large, the air that acts as a poor conductor of the electricity no longer resists the airflow. Finally, the positive and negative charges meet each other, which produces streaks of bright light that is known as lightning accompanied by a sound known as thunder. This process is referred to as the electric discharge. The discharge can take place between two or more clouds or between a cloud and the ground.
Ques. What are the four main types of lightning? (5 marks)
Ans. The four main types of lightning are as given below:
- Cloud To Cloud Lightning (CC): The discharge between the clouds i.e. from one cloud to another is known as the cloud to cloud lightning. This lightning does not reach the ground. At times, it takes place between the oppositely charged portions of the same cloud while at times, it takes place between the charged portion of a cloud and the oppositely charged portion of another cloud. This type of lightning is not harmful to life on the ground. However, it is quite dangerous to the safety of the aircrafts in the sky that flies among the clouds
- Cloud To Ground Lightning (CG): The discharge between the clouds and the ground leads to cloud-to-ground lightning. This type of lightning is highly harmful and dangerous as it strikes the ground and therefore poses risk to property and life on the ground. The cloud to ground lightning strikes even faster than humans can blink and therefore we can just see a flash of this lightning though it causes destruction.
- Ground To Cloud Lightning (GC): It is also referred to as upward-moving lightning. This basically refers to the discharge between the clouds and ground that originates from an object that is existing on the ground. Ground to cloud lightning is highly common on skyscrapers and tall towers. The polarity of this lightning can either be positive or negative.
- Intracloud Lightning (IC): It is a common type of lightning in clouds having both positive and negative charges within them. As the name suggests, this lightning takes place within the cloud itself.
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