Mysteries of Lightening - The Speaking Mind #1
Hey guys....!! Welcome to the show of THE SPEAKING MIND. Almost all of us are quite familiar about lightning and all of us have seen "lightning". But have we ever been puzzled by "how it happens ?". Every body just knows, it happens, but does not know how it happens. So today we shall discuss about its scientific part and its mysterious part. Today even science has been puzzled by the mysteries of lightning because "even after 250 years of research, it needs additional research to solve its dilemma".
Scientific Analysis of Lightning :-
Observation #1
Cloud comprises of both positive and negative charges. Negative charges at the cloud base induce a build up of positive charge on earth's surface directly below.
Question #1
How do the opposite charges get separated from the cloud ?
Observation #2
Negative charges move from the bottom of the cloud towards the ground ionizing the air and forming "step leaders" or invisible conductive path. Meanwhile streamers of positive charge move upward from the ground towards the cloud.
Question #2
The electric field between the bottom of cloud and the ground does not seem strong enough to breakdown the insulating properties of air. So these "step leaders" or "invisible path" should not form owing to the fact that "air is not a good conductor".
Observation #3
When a step leader connects to a streamer, negative charges pour down, visible to us as a "lightning bolt". Repeated strikes occur until the charges drained off from the cloud.
Question #3
How can lightning propagate so far travelling through air, which is not considered to be a good conductor ?
Observation #4
Most of the power lightning happens over sea. Scientific clues for this is "presence of increased concentration of salt in the atmosphere over sea".
Question #4
"Salt concentration is the logic behind powerful strikes". if this is the logic, then it will be further countered by the fact that "salt is a dicey suspect for causing powerful lightning", because atmospheric concentration of salt rise and fall with seasons , but not in synch with seasonal rise and fall of powerful lightning strokes.There is no one single mechanism which can justify the stronger peak current lightning over sea.
So Science even after having its 250 years of research is puzzling by the mysteries of lightning. Is not it..? For time being the cause of powerful lighting over sea will apparently remain a mystery. This latest research might imply increased salinity and large ice crystals in combination with storm physics could be the cause. Any conclusive theory will probably wait for additional research.
So the mysteries of lightning continues........
That"s all for today. Thank you so much. Any further input or debate is always welcome. Please feel free to put your thoughts in comment section. Have a Great Day.
