Report: Electrical phenomena in nature: lightning. Lightning as a miracle of nature Is lightning a physical phenomenon

Lightning is one of those natural phenomena that have long inspired fear in the human race. The greatest minds, such as Aristotle or Lucretius, sought to understand its essence. They believed that it was a ball consisting of fire and sandwiched in the water vapor of the clouds, and, increasing in size, it breaks through them and falls to the ground with a swift spark.

The concept of lightning and its origin

Most often, lightning is formed in which are quite large. The upper part can be located at an altitude of 7 kilometers, and the lower one - only 500 meters above the ground. Considering the atmospheric air temperature, we can conclude that at a level of 3-4 km, the water freezes and turns into ice floes, which, colliding with each other, are electrified. Those who have largest size, receive a negative charge, and the smallest - a positive one. Based on their weight, they are evenly distributed in the cloud by layers. Approaching each other, they form a plasma channel, from which an electric spark, called lightning, is obtained. It got its broken shape due to the fact that on the way to the ground there are often various air particles that form barriers. And to get around them, you have to change the trajectory.

Physical description of lightning

A lightning discharge releases 109 to 1010 joules of energy. Such a colossal amount of electricity is mostly spent on creating a flash of light, which is otherwise called thunder. But even a small part of lightning is enough to do unthinkable things, for example, its discharge can kill a person or destroy a building. Another interesting fact suggests that this natural phenomenon is able to melt sand, forming hollow cylinders. This effect is achieved due to high temperature inside the zipper, it can reach 2000 degrees. The time of impact with the ground is also different, it cannot be more than a second. As for power, the pulse amplitude can reach hundreds of kilowatts. Combining all these factors, the most powerful natural discharge of current is obtained, which brings death to everything that it touches. All existing species lightning are very dangerous, and meeting with them is extremely undesirable for a person.

Thunder formation

All types of lightning cannot be imagined without thunder, which does not carry the same danger, but in some cases can lead to network failure and other technical problems. It occurs due to the fact that a warm wave of air, heated by lightning to a temperature hotter than the sun, collides with a cold one. The sound resulting from this is nothing but a wave caused by air vibrations. In most cases, the volume increases towards the end of the roll. This is due to the reflection of sound from the clouds.

What are lightning

It turns out they are all different.

1. Line lightning - the most common variety. An electric peal looks like an overgrown tree turned upside down. Several thinner and shorter "processes" depart from the main canal. The length of such a discharge can reach 20 kilometers, and the current strength is 20,000 amperes. The speed of movement is 150 kilometers per second. The temperature of the plasma filling the lightning channel reaches 10,000 degrees.

2. Intracloud lightning - the origin of this type is accompanied by a change in electric and magnetic fields, radio waves are also emitted. Such a roll is most likely to be found closer to the equator. AT temperate latitudes he appears very rarely. If there is lightning in the cloud, then a foreign object that violates the integrity of the shell, such as an electrified aircraft or a metal cable, can also induce it to get out. The length can vary from 1 to 150 kilometers.

3. Ground lightning - this species goes through several stages. On the first of them, impact ionization begins, which is created at the beginning by free electrons, they are always present in the air. Under the influence of an electric field elementary particles acquire high speeds and head towards the ground, colliding with the molecules that make up the air. Thus, there are electron avalanches, otherwise called streamers. They are channels that, merging with each other, cause a bright, thermally insulated lightning. It reaches the ground in the form of a small ladder, because there are obstacles in its path, and in order to get around them, it changes direction. The speed of movement is approximately 50,000 kilometers per second.

After the lightning has passed its way, it ends its movement for several tens of microseconds, while the light weakens. After that, the next stage begins: the repetition of the path traveled. The most recent discharge surpasses all the previous ones in brightness, the current strength in it can reach hundreds of thousands of amperes. The temperature inside the channel fluctuates around 25,000 degrees. This type of lightning is the longest, so the consequences can be devastating.

Pearl Lightning

When answering the question of what kind of lightning are, one cannot lose sight of such a rare natural phenomenon. Most often, the discharge passes after the linear one and completely repeats its trajectory. Only now it looks like balls that are at a distance from each other and resemble beads made of precious material. Such lightning is accompanied by the loudest and rolling sounds.

Ball lightning

A natural phenomenon when lightning takes the form of a ball. In this case, the trajectory of its flight becomes unpredictable, which makes it even more dangerous for humans. In most cases, such an electric lump occurs together with other species, but the fact of its appearance even in sunny weather has been recorded.

How it is formed It is this question that is most often asked by people who have encountered this phenomenon. As everyone knows, some things are excellent conductors of electricity, and so it is in them, accumulating their charge, that the ball begins to emerge. It can also appear from the main lightning. Eyewitnesses say that it just appears out of nowhere.

Lightning diameter ranges from a few centimeters to a meter. As for the color, there are several options: from white and yellow to bright green, it is extremely rare to find a black electric ball. After a rapid descent, it moves horizontally, about a meter from the surface of the earth. Such lightning can suddenly change its trajectory and just as suddenly disappear, releasing huge energy, due to which melting or even destruction occurs. various items. She lives from ten seconds to several hours.

lightning sprite

More recently, in 1989, scientists discovered another type of lightning, which was called sprite. The discovery happened quite by accident, because the phenomenon is extremely rare and lasts only tenths of a second. They are distinguished from others by the height at which they appear - approximately 50-130 kilometers, while other subspecies do not overcome the 15-kilometer line. Also, the lightning sprite has a huge diameter, which reaches 100 km. They appear vertical and flash in clusters. Their color varies depending on the composition of the air: closer to the ground, where there is more oxygen, they are green, yellow or white, but under the influence of nitrogen, at an altitude of more than 70 km, they acquire a bright red hue.

Behavior during a thunderstorm

All types of lightning carry an extraordinary danger to health and even human life. To avoid electric shock, the following rules should be followed in open areas:

1. In this situation, the highest objects fall into the risk group, so open areas should be avoided. To become lower, it is best to sit down and put your head and chest on your knees, in case of defeat, this posture will protect all vital organs. In no case should you lie flat, so as not to increase the area of ​​\u200b\u200ba possible hit.
2. Also, do not hide under tall trees and unprotected structures or metal objects (for example, a picnic shed) will be undesirable shelter.
3. During a thunderstorm, you should immediately get out of the water, because it is a good conductor. Getting into it, a lightning discharge can easily spread to a person.
4. Under no circumstances should you use your mobile phone.
5. To provide first aid to the victim, it is best to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and immediately call the rescue service.

Rules of conduct in the house

Indoors, too, there is a danger of injury.

1. If a thunderstorm starts outside, the first thing to do is close all windows and doors.
2. All electrical appliances must be turned off.
3. Stay away from wired telephones and other cables, they are excellent conductors of electricity. Metal pipes have the same effect, so you should not be near plumbing.
4. Knowing how it's made ball lightning and how unpredictable its trajectory is, if it nevertheless got into the room, you must immediately leave it and close all windows and doors. If these actions are not possible, it is better to stand still.

Nature is still beyond the control of man and carries many dangers. All types of lightning are, in essence, the most powerful electrical discharges, which are several times more powerful than all artificially created current sources by man.

The most interesting of them are presented in this article.

Linear lightning (cloud-ground)

How to get such lightning? Yes, it's very simple - all that is required is a couple of hundred cubic kilometers of air, a height sufficient for the formation of lightning and a powerful heat engine - well, for example, the Earth. Ready? Now take the air and sequentially begin to heat it. When it starts to rise, with each meter of rise, the heated air cools, gradually becoming colder and colder. Water condenses into ever larger droplets, forming thunderclouds.

Remember those dark clouds above the horizon, at the sight of which the birds fall silent and the trees stop rustling? So, these are the thunderclouds that give rise to lightning and thunder.

Scientists believe that lightning is formed as a result of the distribution of electrons in the cloud, usually positively charged from the top of the cloud, and negatively from. The result is a very powerful capacitor that can be discharged from time to time as a result of the abrupt transformation of ordinary air into plasma (this is due to the increasingly strong ionization of atmospheric layers close to thunderclouds).

Plasma forms peculiar channels, which, when connected to the ground, serve as an excellent conductor for electricity. Clouds are constantly discharged through these channels, and we see external manifestations data atmospheric phenomena in the form of lightning.

By the way, the air temperature in the place where the charge (lightning) passes reaches 30 thousand degrees, and the speed of lightning propagation is 200 thousand kilometers per hour. In general, a few lightning bolts were enough to power a small town for several months.

Lightning earth-cloud

And there are such lightning. They are formed as a result of the accumulating electrostatic charge on top of the tallest object on earth, which makes it very "attractive" for lightning.

Such lightning is formed as a result of “breaking through” the air gap between the top of a charged object and bottom thundercloud.The higher the object, the more likely it is to be struck by lightning. So they say the truth - you should not hide from the rain under tall trees.

lightning cloud-cloud

Yes, lightning can also be “exchanged” by individual clouds that strike electric charges each other. It's simple - because top part the cloud is positively charged, and the lower one is negatively charged, nearby thunderclouds can shoot each other with electric charges.

It is quite common for lightning to break through one cloud, and much rarer for lightning to travel from one cloud to another.

Horizontal zipper

This lightning does not hit the ground, it spreads horizontally across the sky. Sometimes such lightning can spread across a clear sky, coming from a single thundercloud. Such lightning is very powerful and very dangerous.

Tape zipper

This lightning looks like several lightning bolts running parallel to each other. There is no mystery in their formation - if it blows strong wind, it can expand the channels from the plasma, which we wrote about above, and as a result, such a differentiated lightning is formed.

Beaded (dotted zipper)

This is a very, very rare lightning, it exists, yes, but how it is formed is still anyone's guess. Scientists suggest that dotted lightning is formed as a result of the rapid cooling of some sections of the lightning track, which turns ordinary lightning into dotted lightning. As you can see, this explanation clearly needs to be improved and supplemented.

sprite lightning

So far, we have only talked about what happens below the clouds, or at their level. But it turns out that some types of lightning are higher than clouds. They have been known since the advent of jet aircraft, but these lightning bolts were photographed and filmed only in 1994.

Most of all, they look like jellyfish, right? The height of the formation of such lightning is about 100 kilometers. So far, it is not very clear what they are. Here are photos and even videos of unique sprite lightning. Very beautiful.

Ball lightning

Some people claim that ball lightning does not exist. Others post videos of fireballs on YouTube and prove it's all real. In general, scientists are not yet firmly convinced of the existence of ball lightning, and the most famous proof of their reality is a photo taken by a Japanese student.

Saint Elmo's fires

This, in principle, is not lightning, but simply the phenomenon of a glow discharge at the end of various sharp objects. The fires of St. Elmo were known in antiquity, now they are described in detail and captured on film.

Volcanic lightning

These are very beautiful lightning bolts that appear during a volcanic eruption. It is likely that the charged gas-dust dome, penetrating several layers of the atmosphere at once, causes disturbances, since it itself carries a rather significant charge. It all looks very beautiful, but creepy. Scientists do not yet know exactly why such lightning is formed, and there are several theories at once, one of which is outlined above.

Here are a few interesting facts about lightning, which is not so often published:

* Typical lightning lasts about a quarter of a second and consists of 3-4 discharges.
* An average thunderstorm travels at a speed of 40 km per hour.
* There are 1,800 thunderstorms in the world right now.
* The US Empire State Building is struck by lightning an average of 23 times a year.
* Lightning strikes aircraft on average once every 5-10 thousand flight hours.
* The probability of being killed by lightning is 1 in 2,000,000. Each of us has the same chance of dying from falling out of bed.
* The probability of seeing ball lightning at least once in a lifetime is 1 in 10,000.
* People who were struck by lightning were considered marked by God. And if they died, they supposedly went straight to heaven. In ancient times, victims of lightning were buried at the place of death.

What should you do when lightning approaches?

In the house

* Close all windows and doors.
* Unplug all electrical appliances. Do not touch them, including phones, during thunderstorms.
* Keep away from bathtubs, faucets and sinks as metal pipes can conduct electricity.
* If ball lightning has flown into the room, try to get out quickly and close the door on the other side. If you can't, at least freeze in place.

On the street

* Try to go into the house or car. Do not touch metal parts in the car. The car should not be parked under a tree: suddenly lightning will strike it and the tree will fall right on you.
* If there is no shelter, go out into the open and, bending over, snuggle up to the ground. But you can't just lie down!
* In the forest, it is better to hide under low bushes. NEVER stand under a free-standing tree.
* Avoid towers, fences, tall trees, telephone and electrical wires, bus stops.
* Stay away from bicycles, barbecues, other metal objects.
* Keep away from the lake, river or other bodies of water.
* Remove all metal from yourself.
* Do not stand in the crowd.
* If you are in open space and suddenly feel like your hair is standing on end, or hear a strange noise coming from objects (that means lightning is about to strike!), bend forward with your hands on your knees (but not on the ground). The legs should be together, the heels pressed against each other (if the legs do not touch, the discharge will pass through the body).
* If a thunderstorm caught you in a boat and you no longer have time to swim to the shore, bend down to the bottom of the boat, join your legs and cover your head and ears.

Ancient people did not always consider thunderstorm and lightning, as well as the accompanying roll of thunder, as a manifestation of the wrath of the gods. For example, for the Hellenes, thunder and lightning were symbols of supreme power, while the Etruscans considered them signs: if a flash of lightning was seen from east side, this meant that everything would be fine, and if it sparkled in the west or northwest, vice versa.

The idea of ​​the Etruscans was adopted by the Romans, who were convinced that a lightning strike from the right side is sufficient reason to postpone all plans for the day. The Japanese had an interesting interpretation of heavenly sparks. Two vajras (lightning bolts) were considered symbols of Aizen-meo, the god of compassion: one spark was on the head of the deity, he held the other in his hands, suppressing all the negative desires of mankind with it.

Lightning is a huge electrical discharge, which is always accompanied by a flash and thunderous peals (a shining discharge channel resembling a tree is clearly visible in the atmosphere). At the same time, a flash of lightning is almost never one, it is usually followed by two, three, and often reaches several tens of sparks.

These discharges are almost always formed in cumulonimbus clouds, sometimes in stratonimbus clouds. large sizes: the upper limit often reaches seven kilometers above the surface of the planet, while the lower part can almost touch the ground, staying no higher than five hundred meters. Lightning can form both in one cloud and between nearby electrified clouds, as well as between a cloud and the ground.

A thundercloud is made up of a large number steam condensed in the form of ice floes (at a height exceeding three kilometers it is almost always ice crystals, since the temperature here does not rise above zero). Before the cloud becomes a thundercloud, inside it begins active movement ice crystals, while they are helped to move by rising currents of warm air from the heated surface.

Air masses carry smaller pieces of ice upwards, which constantly collide with larger crystals during movement. As a result, smaller crystals are positively charged, larger ones are negatively charged.

After small ice crystals gather at the top and large ones at the bottom, the top of the cloud is positively charged, the bottom is negatively charged. Thus, the electric field strength in the cloud reaches extremely high levels: a million volts per meter.

When these oppositely charged regions collide with each other, at the points of contact, ions and electrons form a channel through which all charged elements rush down and an electrical discharge is formed - lightning. At this time, such a powerful energy is released that its strength would be enough to power a 100-watt light bulb for 90 days.

The channel heats up to nearly 30,000 degrees Celsius, five times the temperature of the Sun, producing a bright light (the flash typically lasts only three-quarters of a second). After the formation of the channel, the thundercloud begins to discharge: the first discharge is followed by two, three, four or more sparks.

A lightning strike resembles an explosion and causes the formation of a shock wave, which is extremely dangerous for any living creature that finds itself near the channel. The shock wave of the strongest electric discharge a few meters away from itself is quite capable of breaking trees, injuring or concussing even without a direct electric shock:

• At a distance of up to 0.5 m to the channel, lightning can destroy weak structures and injure a person;
• At a distance of up to 5 meters, the buildings remain intact, but can knock out windows and stun a person;
• At long distances the shock wave negative consequences does not carry and goes into sound wave known as thunder rumbles.

Thunder rolls

A few seconds after a lightning strike was recorded, due to a sharp increase in pressure along the channel, the atmosphere heats up to 30 thousand degrees Celsius. As a result of this, explosive vibrations of the air arise and thunder occurs. Thunder and lightning are closely related to each other: the length of the discharge is often about eight kilometers, so the sound from its different parts reaches different time, forming thunder peals.

Interestingly, by measuring the time that has passed between thunder and lightning, you can find out how far the epicenter of the thunderstorm is from the observer.

To do this, you need to multiply the time between lightning and thunder by the speed of sound, which is from 300 to 360 m / s (for example, if the time interval is two seconds, the thunderstorm epicenter is a little more than 600 meters from the observer, and if three - at a distance kilometers). This will help determine if the storm is moving away or approaching.

Amazing fireball

One of the least studied, and therefore the most mysterious phenomena of nature, is ball lightning - a luminous plasma ball moving through the air. It is mysterious because the principle of the formation of ball lightning is still unknown: despite the fact that there are a large number of hypotheses explaining the reasons for the appearance of this amazing phenomenon nature, there were objections to each of them. Scientists have not been able to experimentally achieve the formation of ball lightning.

Ball lightning can exist long time and move along an unpredictable trajectory. For example, it is quite capable of hanging in the air for several seconds, and then rushing to the side.

Unlike a simple discharge, there is always one plasma ball: until two or more fire lightnings were simultaneously recorded. The size of ball lightning varies from 10 to 20 cm. Ball lightning is characterized by white, orange or blue tones, although other colors are often found, up to black.

Scientists have not yet determined the temperature indicators of ball lightning: despite the fact that, according to their calculations, it should fluctuate from one hundred to a thousand degrees Celsius, people who were close to this phenomenon did not feel the warmth emanating from ball lightning.

The main difficulty in studying this phenomenon is that scientists rarely manage to fix its appearance, and the testimony of eyewitnesses often casts doubt on the fact that the phenomenon they observed was really ball lightning. First of all, testimony differs as to the conditions in which it appeared: basically it was seen during a thunderstorm.

There are also indications that ball lightning can also appear on a fine day: descend from the clouds, appear in the air, or appear due to some object (tree or pole).

One more characteristic feature ball lightning is its penetration into closed rooms, it has even been seen in cockpits (a fireball can penetrate windows, descend through ventilation ducts, and even fly out of sockets or a TV). Situations were also repeatedly documented when the plasma ball was fixed in one place and constantly appeared there.

Often, the appearance of ball lightning does not cause trouble (it moves quietly in air currents and flies away or disappears after a while). But, the sad consequences were also noticed when it exploded, instantly evaporating the nearby liquid, melting glass and metal.

Possible dangers

Since the appearance of ball lightning is always unexpected, when you see this unique phenomenon near you, the main thing is not to panic, not to move sharply and not to run anywhere: fire lightning is very susceptible to air vibrations. It is necessary to quietly leave the trajectory of the ball and try to stay as far away from it as possible. If a person is in the room, you need to slowly walk to the window opening and open the window: there are many stories when dangerous ball left the apartment.

Nothing can be thrown into a plasma ball: it is quite capable of exploding, and this is fraught not only with burns or loss of consciousness, but with cardiac arrest. If it happened that the electric ball caught a person, you need to transfer him to a ventilated room, wrap him up warmer, do a heart massage, artificial respiration and immediately call a doctor.

What to do in a thunderstorm

When a thunderstorm starts and you see lightning approaching, you need to find shelter and hide from the weather: a lightning strike is often fatal, and if people survive, they often remain disabled.

If there are no buildings nearby, and a person is in the field at that time, he must take into account that it is better to hide from a thunderstorm in a cave. But it is advisable to avoid tall trees: lightning usually aims at the largest plant, and if the trees are of the same height, it falls into something that conducts electricity better.

To protect a separate building or structure from lightning, they usually install a high mast near them, on top of which a pointed metal rod is fixed, securely connected to a thick wire, at the other end there is a metal object buried deep in the ground. The operation scheme is simple: a rod from a thundercloud is always charged with a charge opposite to the cloud, which, flowing down the wire underground, neutralizes the charge of the cloud. This device is called a lightning rod and is installed on all buildings of cities and other human settlements.

Every second, approximately 700 lightning, and every year about 3000 people are killed by lightning strikes. The physical nature of lightning has not been fully explained, and most people have only a rough idea of ​​what it is. Some discharges collide in the clouds, or something like that. Today we turned to our physics authors to learn more about the nature of lightning. How lightning appears, where lightning strikes, and why thunder rumbles. After reading the article, you will know the answer to these and many other questions.

What is lightning

Lightning- spark electric discharge in the atmosphere.

electrical discharge- this is the process of current flow in the medium, associated with a significant increase in its electrical conductivity relative to the normal state. Exist different types electrical discharges in gas: spark, arc, smoldering.

The spark discharge occurs when atmospheric pressure and is accompanied by a characteristic crackle of a spark. A spark discharge is a collection of disappearing and replacing each other filamentous spark channels. Spark channels are also called streamers. The spark channels are filled with ionized gas, i.e. plasma. Lightning is a giant spark, and thunder is a very loud crack. But not everything is so simple.

The physical nature of lightning

How is the origin of lightning explained? System cloud-earth or cloud-cloud is a kind of capacitor. Air plays the role of a dielectric between clouds. The lower part of the cloud has a negative charge. With a sufficient potential difference between the cloud and the ground, conditions arise in which lightning occurs in nature.

Stepped leader

Before the main lightning flash, one can observe small spot moving from cloud to earth. This is the so-called step leader. Electrons under the action of a potential difference begin to move towards the ground. As they move, they collide with air molecules, ionizing them. An ionized channel is being laid from the cloud to the ground. Due to the ionization of air by free electrons, the electrical conductivity in the zone of the leader trajectory increases significantly. The leader, as it were, paves the way for the main discharge, moving from one electrode (cloud) to another (ground). Ionization occurs unevenly, so the leader can branch out.

Backfire

The moment the leader approaches the ground, the tension at his end rises. From the ground or from objects protruding above the surface (trees, roofs of buildings), a response streamer (channel) is thrown towards the leader. This property of lightning is used to protect against them by installing a lightning rod. Why does lightning strike a person or a tree? In fact, she doesn't care where to hit. After all, lightning is looking for the shortest path between earth and sky. That is why during a thunderstorm it is dangerous to be on the plain or on the surface of the water.

When the leader reaches the ground, a current begins to flow through the laid channel. It is at this moment that the main lightning flash is observed, accompanied by a sharp increase in current strength and energy release. Here is the question, where does lightning come from? It is interesting that the leader spreads from the cloud to the ground, but the reverse bright flash, which we are used to seeing, spreads from the ground to the cloud. It is more correct to say that lightning does not go from heaven to earth, but occurs between them.

Why does lightning strike?

Thunder is the result of a shock wave generated by the rapid expansion of ionized channels. Why do we see lightning first and then hear thunder? It's all about the difference in the speeds of sound (340.29 m/s) and light (299,792,458 m/s). By counting the seconds between thunder and lightning and multiplying them by the speed of sound, you can find out at what distance the lightning struck from you.

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Types of lightning and facts about lightning

Lightning between heaven and earth is not the most common lightning. Most often, lightning occurs between clouds and does not pose a threat. In addition to terrestrial and intracloud lightning, there are lightnings that form in the upper atmosphere. What are the types of lightning in nature?

• Intra-cloud lightning;
• Ball lightning;
• "Elves";
• Jets;
• Sprites.

The last three types of lightning cannot be observed without special instruments, as they form at an altitude of 40 kilometers and above.

Here are the facts about lightning:

• The length of the longest recorded lightning on Earth was 321 km. This lightning was seen in Oklahoma, 2007.
• The longest lightning lasted 7,74 seconds and was recorded in the Alps.
• Lightning is formed not only on Earth. Know exactly about lightning on Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. Saturn's lightning is millions of times more powerful than Earth's.
• The current in lightning can reach hundreds of thousands of amperes, and the voltage can reach billions of volts.
• The temperature of the lightning channel can reach 30000 degrees Celsius is 6 once more temperature the surface of the sun.

Ball lightning

Ball lightning - separate view lightning, the nature of which remains a mystery. Such lightning is a luminous object moving in the air in the form of a ball. According to the limited evidence, ball lightning can move along an unpredictable trajectory, split into smaller lightning bolts, explode, or simply disappear unexpectedly. There are many hypotheses about the origin of ball lightning, but none can be recognized as reliable. The fact is that no one knows how ball lightning appears. Some hypotheses reduce the observation of this phenomenon to hallucinations. Ball lightning has never been observed in the laboratory. All scientists can be content with is eyewitness accounts.

Finally, we invite you to watch the video and remind you: if the course paper or control fell on your head like lightning on a sunny day, do not despair. Student Services Specialists have been helping students since 2000. Seek qualified help at any time. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week we are ready to help you.

Ball lightning is a unique natural phenomenon: the nature of occurrence; physical properties; characteristic

To date, the only and main problem in the study of this phenomenon is the inability to recreate such lightning in scientific laboratories.

Therefore, most of the assumptions about physical nature spherical electric bunch in the atmosphere and remain theoretical.

The first to suggest the nature of ball lightning was the Russian physicist Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa. According to his teachings, this type of lightning occurs during a discharge between thunderclouds and the earth on the electromagnetic axis along which it drifts.

In addition to Kapitsa, a number of physicists put forward theories about the sound and frame structure of the discharge or about the ionic origin of ball lightning.

Many skeptics have argued that this is just a visual illusion or short-term hallucinations, and such a natural phenomenon does not exist. Currently modern equipment and the equipment has not yet recorded the radio waves necessary to create lightning.

How ball lightning is formed

It is usually formed during heavy thunderstorm, however, it was noticed more than once and at sunny weather. Ball lightning occurs suddenly and in a single case. It can appear from clouds, from trees or other objects and buildings. Ball lightning easily overcomes obstacles in its path, including falling into confined spaces. Cases are described when this type of lightning arose from a TV, aircraft cockpit, sockets, indoors ... At the same time, it can bypass objects in its path, passing through them.

Repeatedly, the occurrence of an electric clot was recorded in the same places. The process of movement or migration of lightning occurs mainly horizontally and at a height of about a meter above the ground. There is also a sound accompaniment in the form of a crunch, crackle and squeak, which leads to interference in the radio.

According to the descriptions of eyewitnesses of this phenomenon, two types of lightning are distinguished:

Characteristics

The origin of such lightning is still unknown. There are versions that an electric discharge occurs either on the surface of lightning, or comes out of the total volume.

Scientists do not yet know the physical and chemical composition, thanks to which such a phenomenon of nature can easily overcome doorways, windows, small gaps, and again acquire its original size and shape. In this regard, hypothetical assumptions were put forward about the structure of gas, but such a gas, according to the laws of physics, would have to fly into the air under the influence of internal heat.

• The size of ball lightning is usually 10 - 20 centimeters.
• The color of the glow, as a rule, can be blue, white or orange. However, witnesses of this phenomenon report that a permanent color was not observed and it always changed.
• The shape of ball lightning is in most cases spherical.
• The duration of existence was estimated to be no more than 30 seconds.
• The temperature has not been fully investigated, but according to experts, it is up to 1000 degrees Celsius.

Not knowing the origin of this natural phenomenon, it is difficult to make assumptions about how ball lightning travels. According to one theory, the movement of this form of electric discharge can occur due to the force of the wind, the action of electromagnetic oscillations, or the force of attraction.

Why ball lightning is dangerous

Despite the many different hypotheses about the nature of the occurrence and characteristics of this natural phenomenon, it must be taken into account that interaction with ball lightning is extremely dangerous, since a ball filled with a large discharge can not only injure, but also kill. An explosion can lead to tragic consequences.

• The first rule to follow when meeting with a fireball is not to panic, do not run, do not make quick and abrupt movements.
• It is necessary to slowly leave the trajectory of the ball, while keeping a distance from it and not turn your back.
• When ball lightning appears in a closed room, the first thing to do is to try to carefully open the window in order to create a draft.
• In addition to the above rules, it is strictly forbidden to throw any objects into the plasma ball, as this can lead to a fatal explosion.

So in the Luhansk region, lightning the size of a golf ball killed a driver, and in Pyatigorsk, a man, trying to brush off a luminous ball, received severe burns hands In Buryatia, lightning descended through the roof and exploded in the house. The explosion was so strong that the windows and doors were knocked out, the walls were damaged, and the owners of the household were injured and received a shell shock.

Video: 10 Facts about ball lightning

This video presents to your attention the facts about the most mysterious and amazing natural phenomenon.