Jump to content
Science Forums

Thunderstorm


Recommended Posts

I remember those times when my mother forbidden me to go out of the house during thunderstorms wearing anything with red.  She was afraid I might be hit by a lightning.  Is there any scientific explanation on wearing red colors to lightning/thunderstorms?

 

This thoughts flashed on my mind when I have read from the newspaper (Phil Star, May 17, 2016) about the 60 people  from Bangladesh died due to lightning. see link:

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/05/18/1584433/lightning-kills-64-many-cell-phones-bangladesh

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember those times when my mother forbidden me to go out of the house during thunderstorms wearing anything with red.  She was afraid I might be hit by a lightning.  Is there any scientific explanation on wearing red colors to lightning/thunderstorms?

 

This thoughts flashed on my mind when I have read from the newspaper (Phil Star, May 17, 2016) about the 60 people  from Bangladesh died due to lightning. see link:

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/05/18/1584433/lightning-kills-64-many-cell-phones-bangladesh

 

No. Lightning is an electrical discharge, taking place when the breakdown voltage of air (~ 3000V/cm) is exceeded. Pointed conducting materials (e.g. umbrella tips)  can lead to this BDV being locally exceeded, reducing the path length from cloud to ground and progressively initiating a lightning stroke.

 

The colour of red clothing is due to light other than red being absorbed, while the red light is reflected.

 

Since light absorption and emission plays no part in the mechanism of an electrical discharge, there is no reason to expect the colour of clothing to make any difference.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No. Lightning is an electrical discharge, taking place when the breakdown voltage of air (~ 3000V/cm) is exceeded. Pointed conducting materials (e.g. umbrella tips)  can lead to this BDV being locally exceeded, reducing the path length from cloud to ground and progressively initiating a lightning stroke.

 

The colour of red clothing is due to light other than red being absorbed, while the red light is reflected.

 

Since light absorption and emission plays no part in the mechanism of an electrical discharge, there is no reason to expect the colour of clothing to make any difference.  

Thanks. She probably wanted me to stay home for safety.

 

If lightning produces some electrical discharges, can this be harnessed to produce electricity to power up some homes and other gadgets especially those areas often visited by lightning and thunderstorms?  Or will it suffice the electric voltage required to power this up?  Are there some studies related to this?  

 

your time to read and respond is greatly appreciated...

Edited by estherocampo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks. She probably wanted me to stay home for safety.

 

If lightning produces some electrical discharges, can this be harnessed to produce electricity to power up some homes and other gadgets especially those areas often visited by lightning and thunderstorms?  Or will it suffice the electric voltage required to power this up?  Are there some studies related to this?  

 

your time to read and respond is greatly appreciated...

This came up on another forum I belong to and I found this Wiki article quite helpful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvesting_lightning_energy

 

There is not a great amount of energy in a lightning bolt. The energy is however released over a very short time indeed (microseconds). This leads to an enormous instantaneous power, because power is energy/time (e.g. a Watt is a Joule per second). That creates huge problems in how to capture it safely. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This came up on another forum I belong to and I found this Wiki article quite helpful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvesting_lightning_energy

 

There is not a great amount of energy in a lightning bolt. The energy is however released over a very short time indeed (microseconds). This leads to an enormous instantaneous power, because power is energy/time (e.g. a Watt is a Joule per second). That creates huge problems in how to capture it safely. 

The link  really helped me a lot. Thanks.

 

If harnessing energy from lightning would be very difficult and would take much time, effort, and studies, then other than that, why does it exist?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The link  really helped me a lot. Thanks.

 

If harnessing energy from lightning would be very difficult and would take much time, effort, and studies, then other than that, why does it exist?

Eh?

 

It doesn't! The article explains the problems, in order to explain why it is not done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

I remember those times when my mother forbidden me to go out of the house during thunderstorms wearing anything with red.  She was afraid I might be hit by a lightning.  Is there any scientific explanation on wearing red colors to lightning/thunderstorms?

 

This thoughts flashed on my mind when I have read from the newspaper (Phil Star, May 17, 2016) about the 60 people  from Bangladesh died due to lightning. see link:

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/05/18/1584433/lightning-kills-64-many-cell-phones-bangladesh

The color red in clothing has no more chance of a lightning strike than any other.  From your link:

 

Alam, a former head of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, said farmers and other laborers were also carrying more metal objects such as cell phones than before. Many were also working through the storms rather than traditionally waiting until they had passed.

Edited by fahrquad
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...