A thunderstorm is an atmospheric phenomenon, although not as rare as, for example, the northern lights or the lights of St. Elmo, but no less bright and impressive with its indomitable strength and primordial power. It is not for nothing that all romantic poets and prose writers love to describe it in their works, and professional revolutionaries see in a thunderstorm a symbol of popular unrest and serious social upheaval. From a scientific point of view, a thunderstorm is torrential rain, accompanied by squalls of wind, lightning and thunder. But, if you probably already understand everything about the rain and wind, then it’s worth talking about the other components of the thunderstorm in a little more detail.

What is thunder and lightning

Lightning is the name given to powerful electrical discharges in the atmosphere, which can occur both between individual cumulus clouds and between rain clouds and the ground. Lightning is a kind of giant electric arc, the average length of which is 2.5 - 3 kilometers. The incredible power of lightning is evidenced by the fact that the current in the discharge reaches tens of thousands of amperes, and the voltage reaches several million volts. Considering that such fantastic power is released within a few milliseconds, a lightning discharge can well be called a kind of electrical explosion of incredible power. It is clear that such a detonation inevitably causes the appearance of a shock wave, which then degenerates into a sound wave and decays as it propagates in the air. Thus it becomes obvious what thunder is.

Thunder is a sound vibration that occurs in the atmosphere under the influence of a shock wave caused by a powerful electrical discharge. Considering that the air in the lightning channel instantly heats up to a temperature of about 20 thousand degrees, which exceeds the temperature of the surface of the Sun, such a discharge is inevitably accompanied by a deafening roar, like any other very powerful explosion. But lightning lasts less than a second, and we hear thunder in long peals. Why does this happen, why does thunder roar? Scientists who study atmospheric phenomena have an answer to this question.

Why do we hear thunder?

Thunderclaps arise in the atmosphere due to the fact that lightning, as we have already said, has a very long length and therefore the sound from its different parts does not reach our ear at the same time, although we see the light flash itself entirely at one moment. In addition, the occurrence of thunderclaps is facilitated by the reflection of sound waves from clouds and the surface of the earth, as well as their refraction and dispersion.

Just recently the clear, clear sky was covered with clouds. The first drops of rain fell. And soon the elements demonstrated their power to the earth. Thunder and lightning pierced the stormy sky. Where do such phenomena come from? For many centuries, humanity has seen in them a manifestation of divine power. Today we know about the occurrence of such phenomena.

Origin of thunderclouds

Clouds appear in the sky from condensation rising high above the ground and float in the sky. The clouds are heavier and larger. They bring with them all the “special effects” that come with bad weather.

Thunderclouds differ from ordinary clouds in that they are charged with electricity. Moreover, there are clouds with a positive charge, and there are clouds with a negative one.

To understand where thunder and lightning come from, you need to rise higher above the ground. In the sky, where there are no obstacles to free flight, the winds blow stronger than on the ground. They are the ones who provoke the charge in the clouds.

The origin of thunder and lightning can be explained by just one drop of water. It has a positive charge of electricity in the center and a negative charge on the outside. The wind breaks it into pieces. One of them remains with a negative charge and has less weight. Heavier positively charged drops form the same clouds.

Rain and electricity

Before thunder and lightning appear in a stormy sky, the wind separates the clouds into positively and negatively charged ones. Rain falling on the ground takes some of this electricity with it. An attraction forms between the cloud and the surface of the earth.

The negative charge of the cloud will attract the positive one on the ground. This attraction will be located evenly on all surfaces that are elevated and conduct current.

And now the rain creates all the conditions for the appearance of thunder and lightning. The higher the object is to the cloud, the easier it is for lightning to break through to it.

Origin of lightning

The weather has prepared all the conditions that will help all its effects appear. She created the clouds from which thunder and lightning come.

A roof charged with negative electricity attracts the positive charge of the most exalted object. Its negative electricity will go into the ground.

Both of these opposites tend to attract each other. The more electricity there is in a cloud, the more it is in the most elevated object.

Accumulating in a cloud, electricity can break through the layer of air located between it and the object, and sparkling lightning will appear and thunder will thunder.

How lightning develops

When a thunderstorm rages, lightning and thunder accompany it incessantly. Most often, the spark comes from a negatively charged cloud. It develops gradually.

First, a small stream of electrons flows from the cloud through a channel directed toward the ground. In this place of the cloud, electrons moving at high speed accumulate. Due to this, electrons collide with air atoms and break them up. Individual nuclei are obtained, as well as electrons. The latter also rush to the ground. While they move along the channel, all primary and secondary electrons again split the air atoms standing in their way into nuclei and electrons.

The whole process is like an avalanche. It is moving upward. The air heats up and its conductivity increases.

More and more electricity from the cloud flows to the ground at a speed of 100 km/s. At this moment, lightning makes its way to the ground. Along this road laid by the leader, electricity begins to flow even faster. A discharge of enormous force occurs. Reaching its peak, the discharge decreases. The channel, heated by such a powerful current, glows. And lightning becomes visible in the sky. Such a discharge does not last long.

After the first discharge, a second one often follows along a laid channel.

How does thunder appear?

Thunder, lightning, and rain are inseparable during a thunderstorm.

Thunder occurs for the following reason. The current in the lightning channel is generated very quickly. The air becomes very hot. This makes it expand.

It happens so quickly that it resembles an explosion. Such a shock shakes the air violently. These vibrations lead to the appearance of a loud sound. This is where lightning and thunder come from.

As soon as the electricity from the cloud reaches the ground and disappears from the channel, it cools very quickly. Compressing air also causes thunder to sound.

How more lightning passed through the channel (there can be up to 50 of them), the longer the air shaking. This sound is reflected from objects and clouds, and an echo occurs.

Why is there an interval between lightning and thunder?

In a thunderstorm, lightning is followed by thunder. Its delay from lightning occurs due to the different speeds of their movement. Sound moves at a relatively low speed (330 m/s). This is only 1.5 times faster than the movement of a modern Boeing. The speed of light is much greater than the speed of sound.

Thanks to this interval, it is possible to determine how far flashing lightning and thunder are from the observer.

For example, if 5 s passed between lightning and thunder, this means that the sound traveled 330 m 5 times. By multiplying, it is easy to calculate that the lightning from the observer was at a distance of 1650 m. If a thunderstorm passes closer than 3 km from a person, it is considered close. If the distance, in accordance with the appearance of lightning and thunder, is further, then the thunderstorm is distant.

Lightning in numbers

Thunder and lightning have been modified by scientists, and the results of their research are presented to the public.

It has been found that the potential difference preceding lightning reaches billions of volts. The current strength at the moment of discharge reaches 100 thousand A.

The temperature in the channel heats up to 30 thousand degrees and exceeds the temperature on the surface of the Sun. From the clouds to the ground, lightning travels at a speed of 1000 km/s (in 0.002 s).

The internal channel through which the current flows does not exceed 1 cm, although the visible one reaches 1 m.

There are about 1,800 thunderstorms occurring continuously around the world. The chance of being killed by lightning is 1:2000000 (the same as dying from falling out of bed). The chance of seeing ball lightning is 1 in 10,000.

Ball lightning

On the path to studying where thunder and lightning come from in nature, the most mysterious phenomenon is ball lightning. These round fiery discharges have not yet been fully studied.

Most often, the shape of such lightning resembles a pear or watermelon. It lasts up to several minutes. Appears at the end of a thunderstorm in the form of red clumps from 10 to 20 cm in diameter. The largest ball lightning ever photographed was about 10 m in diameter. It makes a buzzing, hissing sound.

It may disappear quietly or with a slight crash, leaving a burning smell and smoke.

The movement of lightning does not depend on the wind. They are drawn into closed spaces through windows, doors and even cracks. If they come into contact with a person, they leave severe burns and can be fatal.

Until now, the reasons for the appearance of ball lightning were unknown. However, this is not evidence of its mystical origin. Research is being conducted in this area that can explain the essence of this phenomenon.

By becoming familiar with phenomena such as thunder and lightning, you can understand the mechanism of their occurrence. This is a consistent and rather complex physical and chemical process. It is one of the most interesting natural phenomena that occurs everywhere and therefore affects almost every person on the planet. Scientists have solved the mysteries of almost all types of lightning and even measured them. Ball lightning Today it is the only unsolved mystery of nature in the field of formation of such natural phenomena.

A thunderstorm is an atmospheric phenomenon, although not as rare as, for example, the northern lights or the lights of St. Elmo, but no less bright and impressive with its indomitable strength and primordial power. It is not for nothing that all romantic poets and prose writers love to describe it in their works, and professional revolutionaries see in a thunderstorm a symbol of popular unrest and serious social upheaval. From a scientific point of view, a thunderstorm is torrential rain, accompanied by squalls of wind, lightning and thunder. But, if you probably already understand everything about the rain and wind, then it’s worth talking about the other components of the thunderstorm in a little more detail.

What is thunder and lightning

Lightning is the name given to powerful electrical discharges in the atmosphere, which can occur both between individual cumulus clouds and between rain clouds and the ground. Lightning is a kind of giant electric arc, the average length of which is 2.5 - 3 kilometers. The incredible power of lightning is evidenced by the fact that the current in the discharge reaches tens of thousands of amperes, and the voltage reaches several million volts. Considering that such fantastic power is released within a few milliseconds, a lightning discharge can well be called a kind of electrical explosion of incredible power. It is clear that such a detonation inevitably causes the appearance of a shock wave, which then degenerates into a sound wave and decays as it propagates in the air. Thus it becomes obvious what thunder is.

Thunder is a sound vibration that occurs in the atmosphere under the influence of a shock wave caused by a powerful electrical discharge. Considering that the air in the lightning channel instantly heats up to a temperature of about 20 thousand degrees, which exceeds the temperature of the surface of the Sun, such a discharge is inevitably accompanied by a deafening roar, like any other very powerful explosion. But lightning lasts less than a second, and we hear thunder in long peals. Why does this happen, why does thunder roar? Scientists who study atmospheric phenomena have an answer to this question.

Why do we hear thunder?

Thunderclaps arise in the atmosphere due to the fact that lightning, as we have already said, has a very long length and therefore the sound from its different parts does not reach our ear at the same time, although we see the light flash itself entirely at one moment. In addition, the occurrence of thunderclaps is facilitated by the reflection of sound waves from clouds and the surface of the earth, as well as their refraction and dispersion.

Thunder is the sound of lightning piercing the air. When the first lightning bolt hits the ground, it carries an electrical charge. A spark charge bursts out of the ground towards her. When they are connected, a current begins to rise to the cloud, gaining strength up to 20,000 amperes. And the temperature of the channel through which the current is directed can become higher than 250,000 C. From such a high temperature, air molecules fly apart, and the air itself expands at supersonic speed and forms shock waves. The deafening roar generated by such waves is called thunder ohm Due to the fact that the speed of light significantly exceeds the speed of sound, lightning is immediately visible, and thunder heard much later. Rumbles thunder but occur due to the fact that the sound comes from different parts of the lightning, which has a significant length. In addition, the discharge itself does not occur in an instant, but continues for a certain time. The resulting sound can echo off surrounding objects such as mountains, buildings and clouds. Therefore, people hear not one sound, but several echoes catching up with each other, thunder the bone of which can exceed 100 decibels. To approximately calculate at what distance lightning struck, you need to note the number of seconds that passed between the flash and the strike thunder A. And then divide the resulting number by three. By comparing such calculations, one can also conclude whether a thunderstorm is approaching or, conversely, moving away. Usually, thunder New rumbles can be heard at a distance of 15 to 20 kilometers from the lightning flash.

No matter how much science explains the essence of atmospheric electricity, people still flinch when lightning strikes and involuntarily shrink in anticipation of the clap of thunder. Obviously, in most people, the memory of distant ancestors speaks, trying to find at least some kind of protection from heavenly fire.

Of course, there is nothing supernatural in atmospheric electricity, but this does not make lightning and the subsequent peals of thunder look any less impressive and menacing. So what exactly is lightning?

As is known from school course physics, all objects have a very definite electric charge. The collision of charged particles with each other leads to the creation of large areas of positive and negative charges. When such areas are close enough to each other, a breakdown occurs and charged particles rush into the created channel. People perceive this breakdown as a lightning strike.

If it’s more or less clear with lightning, then why is it followed by a terrifying roar, reminiscent of artillery cannonade? After all, the same physics convinces people that electric current cannot be seen, heard or otherwise detected, with the exception of special devices.

As it turns out, the whole point is in the air, or rather, in its properties. The fact is that, being, in fact, an insulator, at the moment of breakdown it heats up to a temperature of about 30,000°C. Moreover, the rate of heating and, accordingly, expansion of the air environment expands explosively, which leads to the appearance of a shock wave, which the human ear perceives as roar or thunder.

Therefore, lightning and thunder are inseparable, since thunder is the result of lightning. The talk that there is supposedly lightning without thunder and vice versa is groundless.

On the other hand, there are quite a lot of inexplicable things associated with lightning and their manifestations. Such types of lightning as linear, cord, rope, tape are quite well known and relatively well studied. In turn, they are united and branched. The most mysterious and so far unexplored lightning is ball lightning. It is associated with the largest number of oddities and mysteries, both documented and unproven.

It has been repeatedly noted by many eyewitnesses that lightning flickers. The fact is that lightning consists of many successive discharges lasting only a few tens of millionths of a second. This creates the flickering effect.

Lightning discharges occur between individual thunderclouds, between a cloud and the ground, and sometimes, for unknown reasons, the discharge goes vertically into the sky.

As for lightning emanating from clouds to the ground, there are two known types: positive and negative. Moreover, according to scientists, it is positive discharges, as they are more powerful, that lead to fires.

What is thunder? Thunder is the sound that accompanies a lightning strike during a thunderstorm. Sounds simple enough, but why does lightning sound the way it does? Any sound consists of vibrations that create sound waves in the air. Lightning is a huge bolt of electricity that shoots through the air, causing vibrations. Many people have repeatedly wondered where lightning and thunder come from and why thunder precedes lightning. There are quite understandable reasons for this phenomenon.

How does thunder thunder?

Electricity passes through the air and causes air particles to vibrate. Lightning is accompanied by incredibly high temperatures, so the air around it also becomes very hot. Hot air expands, increasing the strength and number of vibrations. What is thunder? These are the sound vibrations that occur during lightning strikes.

Why does thunder not thunder at the same time as lightning?

We see lightning before we hear thunder because light travels faster than sound. There is an old myth that by counting the seconds between a flash of lightning and thunder, you can find out the distance to where the storm is raging. However, from a mathematical point of view, this assumption has no scientific basis, since the speed of sound is approximately 330 meters per second.

Thus, for thunder to travel one kilometer, it will take 3 seconds. Therefore, it would be more correct to count the number of seconds between the flash of lightning and the sound of thunder, and then divide this number by five, this will be the distance to the thunderstorm.

This mysterious phenomenon is lightning

The heat from lightning's electricity raises the temperature of the surrounding air to 27,000°C. Since lightning moves at incredible speeds, the heated air simply does not have time to expand. The heated air is compressed, and its atmospheric pressure increases significantly and becomes from 10 to 100 times higher than normal. Compressed air rushes out from the lightning channel, forming a shock wave of compressed particles in each direction. Like an explosion, fast-moving waves of compressed air create a loud, booming burst of noise.

Based on the fact that electricity follows the shortest path, the predominant number of lightning strikes are close to vertical. However, lightning can also branch, as a result of which the sound color of the thunder roar also changes. Shock waves from different lightning forks bounce off each other, and low-hanging clouds and nearby hills help create the continuous rumble of thunder. Why is there thunder? Thunder is caused by the rapid expansion of air surrounding the lightning path.

What causes lightning?

Lightning represents electricity. Inside a thundercloud high in the sky, numerous small pieces of ice (frozen raindrops) collide with each other as they move through the air. All these collisions create an electrical charge. After some time, the whole cloud is filled with electrical charges. Positive charges, protons, form at the top of the cloud, and negative charges, electrons, form at the bottom of the cloud. And as we know, opposites attract. The main electrical charge is concentrated around everything that protrudes above the surface. These could be mountains, people or lonely trees. The charge goes up from these points and eventually combines with the charge going down from the clouds.

What causes thunder?

What is thunder? This is the sound caused by lightning, which is essentially a stream of electrons flowing between or within a cloud, or between a cloud and the ground. The air around these streams heats up to such an extent that it becomes three times hotter than the surface of the Sun. Simply put, lightning is a bright flash of electricity.

This stunning and at the same time terrifying spectacle of thunder and lightning is a combination of dynamic vibrations of air molecules and their disruption through electrical forces. This magnificent show once again reminds everyone of the powerful force of nature. If you heard the roar of thunder, lightning will soon flash; it is better not to be outside at this time.

Thunder: Fun Facts

• You can judge how close the lightning is by counting the seconds between the flash and the clap of thunder. For every second there are about 300 meters.
• During a large thunderstorm, seeing lightning and hearing thunder is a common occurrence; thunder during snowfall is very rare.
• Lightning is not always accompanied by thunder. In April 1885, five lightning bolts struck the Washington Monument during a thunderstorm, but no one heard the thunder.

Be careful, lightning!

Lightning is a rather dangerous natural phenomenon, and it is better to stay away from it. When indoors during a thunderstorm, you should avoid water. It is an excellent conductor of electricity, so do not shower, wash your hands, wash dishes or do laundry. Do not use the telephone, as lightning may strike external telephone lines. Do not turn on electrical equipment, computers and household appliances during a storm. Knowing what thunder and lightning are, it is important to behave correctly if suddenly a thunderstorm takes you by surprise. You should stay away from windows and doors. If someone is struck by lightning, they need to call for help and an ambulance.

Without exaggeration, a thunderstorm can be called the most exciting natural phenomenon on earth. It is both beautiful when it pierces the sky with its rays and scary when the rolling of thunder is heard. Let's find out what happens in the sky during a thunderstorm.

Anyone who went to school probably remembers from physics lessons that clouds collect a charge of electricity. The formation of thunderclouds is facilitated by high temperatures (in tropical latitudes, for example).

The cloud gradually increases, rising into the higher layers of the atmosphere where the temperature is already negative, thus the formation of heavy ice crystals begins. The color of the cloud becomes dark, acquiring a “lead” tint.

When colliding with air particles, ice crystals and water droplets become electrified inside the cloud. As a result, drops of water and pieces of ice falling transfer a negative charge to the lower part of the cloud. At this time, an attraction occurs between the upper part of the cloud, which is positively charged, and the lower part of the cloud, which is negatively charged.

A very large voltage of hundreds of millions of volts arises between the upper and lower parts of the cloud. A huge spark appears between the ground and a cloud several kilometers long - this is lightning.

The resulting flash heats the air, causing it to “explode” and this explosion is called thunder. It thunders with peals, echoing. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the speed of light is much higher than the speed of sound, which is why lightning is visible immediately, and we hear thunder a few seconds later.

Such complex atmospheric phenomena lead to the formation of lightning and thunderclouds.

Everyone seems to know why thunder roars, but it’s somehow difficult to explain this fact. Of course, we are not ancient people and we no longer believe in the wrath of the gods, at least in this manifestation of it. Everything in nature, including thunder, has its own natural cause.

A little history

Of course, thunderclouds look impressive and even somewhat menacing. And when they are cut by the dazzling glare of lightning and a massive clap of thunder is heard, the full power of natural phenomena becomes visible. At such moments, a person feels especially acutely his insignificance. But this was mostly due to the fact that people did not know the reasons for what was happening. They came up with a deity who showed his anger to humanity in this way. No matter what civilization we are talking about the pantheon of gods, everywhere there was a thunderer and he ruled over everyone, he was the strongest of the gods. Now in none of the world religions is there any indication that this a natural phenomenon has a supernatural basis. People have studied and explained everything that they have been afraid of for centuries.

Why does thunder occur in nature?

So, a bolt from the blue is nothing more than a metaphorical phrase. There really is no such thing, it’s nonsense. Therefore, it is inextricably linked with a thunderstorm and the corresponding cloud type. There are several various types clouds are nacreous, cirrus, cirrocumulus and cumulus. They all differ from each other in appearance and structural features. It is a thundercloud that, as a rule, arises in the process of collision of various air masses. In this form of cloud, especially in its upper part, it forms a large number of tiny ice crystals. Thanks to this process, the entire upper part of the cloud begins to be covered with a specific white veil, and the cloud itself slowly, gradually acquires an increasingly darker, lead-like color.

Well, so to speak, the ground is already ready for lightning and the thunder that invariably accompanies it. Droplets of water point-to-point touch the needles of ice and air particles, as a result of all this they quickly become electrified. When the water, together with the ice floes, becomes heavy enough to overcome the resistance from the air, it begins to fall down, thereby transferring its negative charge from the upper to the lower part of the thundercloud. So it rains. There is a parallel accumulation of negative charges at the bottom and positive charges at the top of the thundercloud. If you remember a little about some school physics lessons, you can easily guess what happens next: the top and bottom of the cloud begin to attract each other with increasing force. This is how a voltage arises, sometimes of colossal power of tens or even hundreds of millions of volts, in fact, it generates a spark - what we call lightning. She immediately rushes to the ground. But at the same time, it greatly heats up the air around it, yet its temperature can reach 25,000 °C, and thereby creates pressure. As soon as it passes, the air compresses again. But this compression is accompanied by a sort of cracking sound. This is thunder. We hear it in waves, so to speak, peals, because from the physics course at school we remember that a sound wave is reflected more than once from the surface of both clouds and the ground. There is little time between light and sound. It's just the speed of sound.

What is thunder? Thunder is the sound that accompanies a lightning strike during a thunderstorm. Sounds simple enough, but why does lightning sound the way it does? Any sound consists of vibrations that create sound waves in the air. Lightning is a huge bolt of electricity that shoots through the air, causing vibrations. Many people have repeatedly wondered where lightning and thunder come from and why thunder precedes lightning. There are quite understandable reasons for this phenomenon.

How does thunder thunder?

Electricity passes through the air and causes air particles to vibrate. Lightning is accompanied by incredibly high temperatures, so the air around it also becomes very hot. Hot air expands, increasing the strength and number of vibrations. What is thunder? These are the sound vibrations that occur during lightning strikes.

Why does thunder not thunder at the same time as lightning?

We see lightning before we hear thunder because light travels faster than sound. There is an old myth that by counting the seconds between a flash of lightning and thunder, you can find out the distance to where the storm is raging. However, from a mathematical point of view, this assumption has no scientific basis, since the speed of sound is approximately 330 meters per second.

Thus, for thunder to travel one kilometer, it will take 3 seconds. Therefore, it would be more correct to count the number of seconds between the flash of lightning and the sound of thunder, and then divide this number by five, this will be the distance to the thunderstorm.

This mysterious phenomenon is lightning

The heat from lightning's electricity raises the temperature of the surrounding air to 27,000°C. Since lightning moves at incredible speeds, the heated air simply does not have time to expand. Heated air is compressed, it Atmosphere pressure at the same time it increases several times and becomes from 10 to 100 times more than normal. Compressed air rushes out from the lightning channel, forming a shock wave of compressed particles in each direction. Like an explosion, fast-moving waves of compressed air create a loud, booming burst of noise.

Based on the fact that electricity follows the shortest path, the predominant number of lightning strikes are close to vertical. However, lightning can also branch, as a result of which the sound color of the thunder roar also changes. Shock waves from different lightning forks bounce off each other, and low-hanging clouds and nearby hills help create the continuous rumble of thunder. Why is there thunder? Thunder is caused by the rapid expansion of air surrounding the lightning path.

What causes lightning?

Lightning is an electric current. Inside a thundercloud high in the sky, numerous small pieces of ice (frozen raindrops) collide with each other as they move through the air. All these collisions create an electrical charge. After some time, the whole cloud is filled with electrical charges. Positive charges, protons, form at the top of the cloud, and negative charges, electrons, form at the bottom of the cloud. And as we know, opposites attract. The main electrical charge is concentrated around everything that protrudes above the surface. These could be mountains, people or lonely trees. The charge goes up from these points and eventually combines with the charge going down from the clouds.

What causes thunder?

What is thunder? This is the sound caused by lightning, which is essentially a stream of electrons flowing between or within a cloud, or between a cloud and the ground. The air around these streams heats up to such an extent that it becomes three times hotter than the surface of the Sun. Simply put, lightning is a bright flash of electricity.

This stunning and at the same time terrifying spectacle of thunder and lightning is a combination of dynamic vibrations of air molecules and their disruption through electrical forces. This magnificent show once again reminds everyone of the powerful force of nature. If you heard the roar of thunder, lightning will soon flash; it is better not to be outside at this time.

Thunder: Fun Facts

• You can judge how close the lightning is by counting the seconds between the flash and the clap of thunder. For every second there are about 300 meters.
• During a large thunderstorm, seeing lightning and hearing thunder is a common occurrence; thunder during snowfall is very rare.
• Lightning is not always accompanied by thunder. In April 1885, five lightning bolts struck the Washington Monument during a thunderstorm, but no one heard the thunder.

Be careful, lightning!

Lightning is a rather dangerous natural phenomenon, and it is better to stay away from it. When indoors during a thunderstorm, you should avoid water. It is an excellent conductor of electricity, so do not shower, wash your hands, wash dishes or do laundry. Do not use the telephone, as lightning may strike external telephone lines. Do not include electrical equipment, computers or household appliances during a storm. Knowing what thunder and lightning are, it is important to behave correctly if suddenly a thunderstorm takes you by surprise. You should stay away from windows and doors. If someone is struck by lightning, they need to call for help and an ambulance.

Typically observed after lightning. Such phenomena caused a terrible feeling of fear among our ancestors; they considered them a manifestation of the wrath of the gods. During the time of the ancient Slavs, paganism was widespread. They worshiped various gods, including Perun - the god of thunder, lightning and thunder. He was the main one in the ancient Slavic pantheon. And, like any great person, a personal holiday was dedicated. Perun Day was celebrated on July 21. God was revered as the giver of life-giving rain for nature. On this day, the ancestors glorified him, after which they consecrated their weapons, made sacrifices, and performed a ritual of commemorating the soldiers who died in battles. The day ended with a hearty meal and games.

These times have sunk into oblivion, but thunder and lightning remain. Let's look at specialized reference books or natural history textbooks. There we can read what thunder is - the sound of air oscillating around lightning, which quickly heats up and expands. You have probably noticed more than once that sometimes we first see an electric discharge, and only then hear a roar. This happens because light waves propagate at a speed of about 300,000 km/s, and sound ones are much slower, about 335 m/s. But thunder and lightning are not always the same during a thunderstorm. It happens that a flash of lightning occurs, but no sounds are heard. This can happen if the thunderstorm is quite far away. It happens that thunder rumbles, but lightning is not visible - it will be difficult to see on a clear day and when it forms inside a cloud.

If you want to find out how far away a thunderstorm is, it won't be difficult. You just need to count how many seconds pass between the flash of the electrical discharge and the sound of thunder, divide by three, and you will know how many kilometers away the thunderstorm is from you. If you make several similar calculations, you can find out whether the cloud is approaching or moving away from you. In the case where thunder is not heard, it can be said that the thunderstorm front is more than twenty kilometers away from you.

To understand how lightning is formed, you should remember school curriculum- section on electricity. It is known that all objects are charged either positively or negatively. During a thunderstorm, droplets in a cloud condense and pick up positively charged particles. The cloud becomes negatively charged relative to the Earth. When the charge in a rain cloud is too large, a lightning discharge occurs. You can observe the same phenomenon when something like this occurs between clouds.

Now let's figure out what thunder is? During an electrical discharge, the air expands very quickly, then contracts, and a rapid movement of air currents occurs. When contact occurs between them, the sound of thunder is heard. The volume of these peals can reach 120 decibels.

After reading this article, you have learned for yourself and will be able to explain to little ones why thunder and lightning are, how they are formed and why there is a roar.