Bowed before its powerful presence, human beings fall hypnotized by the unexpected formation of lightning bolts that cross the sky. Somehow, we expect some mystical figure to emerge among the force of its ramifications, but it does not. In ancient times it was believed that this could be an explanation for such a discharge of energy. However, today thanks to science, we know how lightning is formed and what is hidden behind the Earth’s energy.
What is lightning and how is it produced?
According to NASA, lightning is a natural phenomenon caused by electrical discharges between the positive and negative regions of a cell. The Earth and its function like a gigantic electrical circuit, the clouds are electrically charged with positive and negative charges. These in turn interact with their environment when a thunderstorm occurs. They end up discharging shock waves that we see in the form of rays that expand across regions of the celestial vault.
How is lightning formed?
Within a storm cloud there are millions of ice crystals that collide with each other. These constant collisions cause the separation of electrical charges. Thus, the positive charges represented by the protons are housed in the upper part of the cloud. In turn, the negative charges, that is, the electrons, move towards the bottom of the cluster.
But when it comes to electromagnetic polarities, we must remember that opposites attract and while in the clouds negative charges are lodged in the lower parts of the clouds, electromagnetic charges are also constantly developing on land. In the soil, positively charged protons are concentrated in almost anything, it can be in mountains, and even coming from people. When the charge is strong enough to attract its negative opposite in the clouds, then the electrical discharge occurs and the gigantic lightning bolts that we usually see in thunderstorms are formed.
Although it also often happens that lightning strikes from cloud to cloud. That is to say, instead of their charges interacting with the surface of the Earth, they do so between the clusters of cloud formations themselves. This is how lightning is formed.
What is the difference between lightning and lightning?
The phenomenon of electric discharge is called lightning, while lightning is the consequence that we visually perceive of such a discharge. The latter are the lights that we see in the sky when a thunderstorm occurs and are produced by the flashing of electrical charges.
But these natural phenomena are also accompanied by another very peculiar phenomenon called thunder. Lightning has so much energy contained that it has the power to heat the region where it occurs very quickly, it can reach up to 30,000 °C. Hot air dilates, that is, it increases in volume and expands, but when it comes into contact with the cold air that surrounds the atmosphere, it contracts again very quickly. This dramatic temperature difference that causes the expansion and contraction of the air produces shock waves that we perceive as the characteristic deafening thunder that accompanies lightning.
Although it should be noted that they reach us with a time difference, first we observe the explosion and seconds later, we hear the thunder. This is because light is the fastest object in the entire Universe, it travels to us faster than sound, which has a slower travel speed.