As they bump into each other, they create an electric charge. After the lightning is gone, the hole collapses. They are most frequent in tropical. If your hair stands on end or you feel tingly, lightning is about to strike. Lightning is approximately 50,000 degrees - over 5 times hotter than the sun. Easy Science for Kids, Nov 2020. < https://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-thunder-and-lightning/ >. What should you do during a thunder storm? The sound you hear when the hole collapses is thunder. Answer: Get to shelter, such as a building or a car, quickly. In August 1771, a Scottish labourer who had been deaf for 20 years was said to be cured when he was struck by lightning. However, you will be safe in a car due to it acting as a Faraday cage (or shield). You can hear thunder up to 15 miles away. All thunderstorms make lightning and lightning is dangerous. Interesting Lightning Facts: 36-40. Which are bigger odds than winning the Lottery! 40. When lightning strikes it makes a hole in the air called a channel. Tobin, Declan. If lightning strikes a sandy beach, it can turn a small portion of the sand into icicle shaped pieces of glass called fulgurites. In temperature terms, lightning bolts are around 29,982°C (54,000°F), which is roughly five times hotter than the surface of the sun. The sound you hear when the hole collapses is thunder. Here in the UK there is around a one in three million chance of being struck by lightning. What is thunder? A thunderclap is the audible energy discharge from a lightning flash. 39. Answer: When you hear thunder, start counting until you see lightning. You can estimate how far away a bolt of lightning is by timing how many seconds later you hear the thunderclap. After the lightning is gone, the hole collapses. Thunder and Lightning Facts for Kids. The sound you hear when the hole collapses is thunder. Now divide the number of seconds between the thunder and lightning by 5. 9. 38. When lightning strikes it makes a hole in the air called a channel. Check out this interesting video all about thunder and lightning: A video explaining why there is thunder and lightning. Web. First things first, don't wave any metal rods around or stand under tall objects like trees. In 1984 six-inch long fish fell on a London neighbourhood - some were still alive. Question: What should you do in a thunderstorm? If there is no shelter, get down on your hands and knees and tuck your head down. During his 35 year career as a park ranger he survived seven strikes and suffered various injuries, including losing his big-toenail. eval(ez_write_tag([[580,400],'easyscienceforkids_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_12',801,'0','0'])); Enjoyed the Easy Science for Kids Website all about Thunder and Lightning info? Electrical storms are formed when dense cold air overlies warm moist air. When the charge connects with electrical charges on the ground, lightning strikes. Find out more about Mother Nature's fireworks. Thunder is the rapid expansion of air around a lightning strike. Massive thunderstorms occur on 140-160 nights per year with an average of 28 lightning strikes per minute lasting up to 10 hours at a time. For lengthy info click here. The largest measured hailstone fell in Nebraska in 2003; the diameter was seven inches and the circumference over 18 inches. The fear of lightning and thunder is known as astraphobia. Easy Science for Kids Website all about Thunder and Lightning, Take the FREE & fun all about Thunder and Lightning quiz, download FREE Thunder and Lightning worksheet for kids, Famous American Inventors (Top ten and their Inventions), How To Build a Winogradsky Column and Learn About Soil Science, How To Use Friction to Pick Up Bottle of Rice, Climate Change and global warming For Kids, Lightning kills more people every year than. There are more than 1,800 thunderstorms every day on Earth. Lightning happens when ice and water particles bump around inside thunder clouds. Thunder follows a clap of lightning because the speed of the sound through the air is much slower than that of the electron flow that creates lightning. Lightning happens when ice and water particles bump around inside thunder clouds. Lightning travels to the earth through the shortest possible path, therefore any tall objects (such as you with an umbrella over your head) might provide that path. Question: Can you tell how far away a storm is? Retrieved from https://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-thunder-and-lightning/, Copyright © 2020 All Rights Reserved EasyScienceforKids.com |. A lightning bolt travels at about 14,000 miles per hour and can heat the surrounding air to temperatures five times hotter than the sun. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples: Declan, Tobin. " In other words, thunder is the noise created as air expands and contracts rapidly in the lightning's resonating tube (which one professor calls a " tubular drum "). Thunder is the sound produced during lightning. In addition to that, the air also gets heated due to the enormous heat produced during lightning … As, lightning is a phenomenon of electric discharge, while the electricity is passed through the surrounding air, the particles in the air gets vibrated. All About Thunder and Lightning: When lightning strikes it makes a hole in the air called a channel. The sound of thunder can be anything from a loud crack to a low rumble. The intense heat from lightning causes the surrounding air to rapidly expand and create a sonic wave that you hear as thunder. Don’t go near trees or water in a thunderstorm. Thunderclaps register at approximately 120 decibels. American Roy Sullivan holds the record for the person struck by lighting the most times. 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