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#1
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10-31-2010, 12:28 PM
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 ♚ Legacy Gold Member ♚ Poster Rank:35 Female Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 43,321
Contributions: 204
Mentioned: 95 Post(s) Quoted: 2282 Post(s)
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Lightning Is Beautifully Amazing
At any instant, there are more than 2,000 thunderstorms taking place throughout the world. These storms combine to produce about 100 lightning flashes per second, each one with a potential of up to a billion volts, currents ranging up to 200,000 amperes and temperatures of over 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit. One hundred million feet per second is the quickness of the lightning streak through the sky. No wonder the flash is difficult to watch from beginning to end; it starts and stops at almost the same time. Lightning travels 90,000 mi/sec (nearly 1/2 the speed of light), 100,000 times faster than sound and therein lies the reason thunder is heard after the flash is seen. The stroke, which is about two inches across and between 200 feet and 20 miles long, lasts but a microsecond. The longest lightning strike ever verified was 121 miles long.  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · |
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#2
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10-31-2010, 05:36 PM
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 *Born Retard* Poster Rank:101 Dude Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 16,032 Mentioned: 2 Post(s) Quoted: 57 Post(s)
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Re: Lightning Is Beautifully Amazing
A bolt of lightning is not just one stroke, but a multitude of strokes called "streamers." If you've ever had the unpleasant opportunity to get up real close to one of these monsters, and I have, you'll not see just one flash, but several in rapid sequence. Of course, we can't forget about the path of air that lightning heats up, which, as you've stated, can reach temperatures of 30000-degrees Kelvin, and which expands with such violence, it creates a shock wave of noise that we've come to know as thunder. Remember: no matter how close you are to a bolt of lightning, if you hear the thunder, you're OK.  |
