Lightning

[Turtle]

I find Saint Elmo's Fire as fascinating as ball lightening. Bill

 

Good call B! The only reason I have to side with ball lightning as more fascinating is that it difficult if not impossible to reproduce. St. Elmo's fire on the other hand is easily reproduced with a Van de Graff generator.

Several years ago my housemate Ace & I went in halfzies on a desktop Van de Graff generator (total about $120 US as I recall). We spent several weeks conducting experiments outlined in the manual as well as experiments we conjured up. The plasma discharge that is St. Elmos Fire is easily demonstrated by the device, especially to good effect in a darkened room.

After two weeks of experimenting, we returned the Van de Graff for a full refund minus shipping.:doh: B) B) B)

[Turtle]

In chatting with housemate Ace about lightning, he proposed collecting it to use the power.:eek: I wan't sure about such a scheme, but that 's a lot of juice in a short period to hang on to. Well, we didn't argue over it at least, & now I have some answers on the question. Short answer is yes, but it's not a reliable source.

 

FS: Can we make use of lightning in terms of power?

 

EW: If lightning occurred in one place in a predictable manner day in and day out, the harnessing of its energy might be seriously considered. Such is not the case. Lightning does strike twice in the same place, but extremely infrequently. To harness the energy, the lightning must strike an electrode connected to a very robust bank of electrical capacitors. One captured strike would deliver at most 10^8 joules. This would provide enough energy to power one electric hairdryer for about ten hours. So clearly, a large number of captured flashes would be needed to supply the energy needs of just a single household.

 

http://www.firstscience.com/site/articles/lightning.asp

 

This is an excellent source of information on many other aspects of lightning as well.:secret: :beer: :beer: :hihi: :lightning :lightning

[Jay-qu]

10^8 sounds like a lot, until you put it that way! with the females in our house that wouldnt last more than a few days! :(

 

Lightning doesnt strike in the same place? what about the large buildings with lightning rods.. are they just one use, then after you get your strike you dont need to bother anymore?

 

Its probably impractical to pay to hook up capacitors to every lightning rod, as it wouldnt provide enough to justify. BUT if you had one bank for say a city or at least for a few buildings mmm maybe..

[Turtle]

10^8 sounds like a lot, until you put it that way!

Lightning doesnt strike in the same place? what about the large buildings with lightning rods.. are they just one use, then after you get your strike you dont need to bother anymore?

Poor choice of words on the author's part. :D Lightning doesn't regularly, reliably, & predictably strike in the same place, but it does happen. :eek:

 

I propose mobile units with trucks carrying large capacitors & trucks with banks of rockets trailing wire like they use down in Florida to induce lightning for research. Drive to a storm, fire the rocket(s) into a cloud, & collect the juice.:hihi: Now that's a Rocket Man Elton!:ud:

[ronthepon]

But how can the energy of a lightning bolt be harnessed?

 

I mean take the case where a lightning strikes a rod with a very high possibility. Then how can we capture the energy?

 

Not pessimistic here... just asking.

[Turtle]

But how can the energy of a lightning bolt be harnessed?

 

I mean take the case where a lightning strikes a rod with a very high possibility. Then how can we capture the energy?

 

Not pessimistic here... just asking.

 

From the article:

 

...the lightning must strike an electrode connected to a very robust bank of electrical capacitors.

http://www.firstscience.com/site/articles/lightning.asp

[ronthepon]

Ahhh... Oh yeah.

[Turtle]

I wonder how much lightning contributes to heating the Earth's atmosphere... er... the grammar doesn't sound correct there but you get the idea. :blink: :lightning :shrug:

[Boerseun]

I wonder how much lightning contributes to heating the Earth's atmosphere... er... the grammar doesn't sound correct there but you get the idea. :blink: :lightning :shrug:

I can't see it contributing too much to global warming, but seeing as lightning is the most important source of ozone, it could be said that life on Earth as we know it, would've been impossible without it!

 

Yay lightning!

[TheBigDog]

I wonder how much lightning contributes to heating the Earth's atmosphere... er... the grammar doesn't sound correct there but you get the idea. :santa: :blink: :lightning :( :shrug:

I had mentioned earlier a theory that lightening is an indicator of global temperature. The theory is that lightening is more associated with the dissipation of energy and functionally cools the atmosphere.

 

Bill

[Turtle]

I had mentioned earlier a theory that lightening is an indicator of global temperature. The theory is that lightening is more associated with the dissipation of energy and functionally cools the atmosphere.

 

Bill

 

Mmmm...I'm not sure about this BD. In part because of the electrical nature of lightning and I think we had a article somewhere indicating cosmic (gamma?) rays may trigger some lightning, and in part because locally at least to the bolt, the lightning is superheating the air. Mmmmm....:(

[Killean]

http://hypography.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=1355&c=3&userid=624

This hit Winnipeg last year and was the most intense I had ever seen. As the description goes, imagine that scene every 1-2 seconds, a continuous onslaught of heavy rain, and constant thunder rumbling. Gahd and I decided to take a stroll this evening. We were transporting my now dead server via bus back to my place. Wrapping it up in a couple garbage bags, we walked outside, totally soaked in a matter of seconds. And then we walked up to the main street and waited for a good 20 minutes for the bus to arrive, enjoying the light show and being deafened by thunder. I can't speak for Gahd, but that was fun.

 

By the by, something I've been wondering about. Which is faster? Lightning or the human bodies neurological signals?

[Turtle]

http://hypography.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=1355&c=3&userid=624

This hit Winnipeg last year and was the most intense I had ever seen. As the description goes, imagine that scene every 1-2 seconds, a continuous onslaught of heavy rain, and constant thunder rumbling. Gahd and I decided to take a stroll this evening. We were transporting my now dead server via bus back to my place. Wrapping it up in a couple garbage bags, we walked outside, totally soaked in a matter of seconds. And then we walked up to the main street and waited for a good 20 minutes for the bus to arrive, enjoying the light show and being deafened by thunder. I can't speak for Gahd, but that was fun.

 

By the by, something I've been wondering about. Which is faster? Lightning or the human bodies neurological signals?

 

Great picture Killean. Awsome display! :santa: As to whether lightning or brain signals are faster, I suspect lightning wins, given the chemical component of neurological signals. But then, the distances are shorter in the brain so it may be relative to individual/particular instances. Here's a bit on the speed of lightning:

Speed of Lightning

A bit on speed of brain signals:

In an Effort to Speed Communications, Brain Cells Seen Recycling Rapidly - Psychologist 4therapy.com

:( :shrug: :lightning

[TheBigDog]

Mmmm...I'm not sure about this BD. In part because of the electrical nature of lightning and I think we had a article somewhere indicating cosmic (gamma?) rays may trigger some lightning, and in part because locally at least to the bolt, the lightning is superheating the air. Mmmmm....:cup:

 

The amount of energy conducted through the bolt far exceeds the heat generated. The localized super-heating can't touch the total loss of energy in a strike. I am trying to find info on this. But it goes slowly.

 

Bill

[Turtle]

Something new in the lightning world this week. :naughty: :shrug: :hihi: More photos and article at SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids :umno: :eek_big:

 

June 1, 2009

Look closely where the lightning meets the water. Tiny bolts appear to be dancing around the impact site.

 

"Those are called 'upward streamers,'" says lightning expert Richard Blakeslee of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. "In a typical cloud-to-ground lightning strike, as the leader approaches the ground, the large electric field at the leader tip induces these upward propagating streamers. The first one that connects to the downward propagating leader initiates the bright return stroke that we see with our eye. Upward streamers are often observed on photographs of lightning hitting the ground."

Now we know they can be seen when lightning hits the water, too. ...

 

[Turtle]

We have a theme developing! :confused: A somewhat unusual line of thunderstorms moved through my region yesterday -I'm in metropolitan Vancouver USA across the Columbia River from Portland Oregon- and I was trying all day to get some lightning shots. Alas, my immediate location was on the fringe which is prolly better for my garden though, as some areas suffered considerable damage, but I saw no lightning.

50,000 lost power in June storm | Local News | kgw.com | News for Portland Oregon and SW Washington

 

Anyway, I check Spaceweather daily and they again have an unusual lightning photo and circumstance. A lightning strike between an eruption cloud from a volcano and a thunderstorm cloud. :blink:

 

SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

VOLCANIC LIGHTNING: On May 19th, adventure photographer Stephen O'Meara was monitoring an eruption of the Rabaul volcano in Papua, New Guinea, when something happened that, he says, "I'll remember for a very long time. A storm cloud approached the volcano's 2 km plume, and lightning began to arc between the two." He set up his camera in a secure location and recorded the "awesome and blinding" spectacle: ...

 

[Turtle]

mmmmm...interesting bit here, but they say don't quote them 'cuz of copyright. :hihi: whatever. :shrug: here's an interesting link on something new with lightning, but i didn't say so. ;)

 

Lightning may have cooked dinner for early life - life - 13 July 2009 - New Scientist