Where does the lightning strike? Thunderstorm as a natural phenomenon.

Thunderstorm - an interesting phenomenon of nature.But everyone knows that there is a reverse side of the coin. Thunderstorm is not only beautiful lightning in the sky, but also a danger. The sky, covered with dark blue clouds, strong wind, thunder, flashes - all that we used to observe in this phenomenon. Many probably wondered more than once the question: “Where does the fiery guest beat during a thunderstorm?”. You will find out the answer to this question later, but for now you need to figure out how this happens.

Where does the flash come from?

Lightning - a natural phenomenon, which is an electrical discharge, which is accompanied by a flash of light. This is a huge spark.

It does not appear as close as it seems to us.Everyone knows that the speed of light is faster than the speed of sound a million times. That is why we first see the flash, and only then hear the roar. How does it appear? Clouds foreshadowing thunderstorms form in the atmosphere. When the air is heated too much, the charged particles fly in one place and flare up. So there is lightning. At the same time it has a very high temperature.

Direction of lightning

We all used to see lightning strike from above.way down. The channel through which the lightning passes is a branching, since air ionization is uneven. Lightning, passing through this channel, also forks, so we used to see the flash not in the form of a straight line, but similar to veins. The main channel through which the lightning passes is called the leader. Branches formed from it, go in the direction of movement of the leader. It is important to note that the leader cannot change his direction sharply to the opposite. The current passes through the leader and his branches as soon as he connects the thundercloud and the earth. Passing through the channels, the current hits the direction several times. Due to this we see that the lightning is flickering.

Where does lightning strike?

Tension in the high layers is always greater than in the lower layers. Therefore, you can see that the "heavenly guest" beats from top to bottom. If you compare a zipper with a tree, then it will resemble its root system.

Sometimes it happens that the current goes the opposite, thenthere is a bottom up. If you make a comparison with a tree, the leader and its branches will resemble a spreading crown. When lightning strikes from top to bottom, it seems as if it strikes from the sky into the earth. In the second case, we do not perceive that lightning strikes out of the ground. Why is that? It's all about our perception. Lightning is a quick process. Our eyes fix our gaze on it as a whole, but we cannot observe the direction of current movement, and the perception of a person is far from being objective. Human eyes cannot capture thousands of frames per second. Therefore, we perceive the whole picture.

If you watch a video camera that is capablecatch these lightning-fast frames, then you can see both ascending and descending currents. How does this process happen? Understandably, but where does lightning strike? In this figure below.

Where does lightning strike and why?

Lightning strikes places where a layer is between anythe subject and thundercloud will be the smallest. Many objects that are on the ground and are conductive, attract lightning. Where does lightning strike? It can fall into a variety of places: trees, metal towers, poles, pipes, houses, buildings, airplanes, water, even in humans. The higher the attraction of the object, the greater the chance of a lightning strike. For example, take two adjacent pillars: wooden and metal. More likely to hit the second.

The fact is that metal objects are muchbetter conduct current. After impact, the current from the ground will go much easier to the mast, since it is well connected to the ground. The greater the surface of the metal structure connected to the ground, the greater the likelihood of a lightning strike. Often it hits on a flat surface. But there will be such a site where there is the greatest conductivity surface of the electric current.

For example, swamps are more often affected by lightning,rather than dry sand. Items in the sky can also be affected. There are cases when lightning struck the plane. It is not dangerous for people in an aircraft, but it is capable of disabling equipment. Lightning poses a great danger to people who are in a house during a thunderstorm. It would seem, why so, because the person is protected? However, a TV that is not turned off, a working mobile phone, can easily draw current, which is dangerous for a person.

There are cases when he hit a person onthe street. Lightning often falls in men than in women. In the countryside, she can hit anywhere. And where does lightning strike in the city? As mentioned, it hits objects that are easily conductive, well connected to the ground. These will be tall buildings, towers. Fortunately, invented lightning rods, which are widely used in large cities. For man, lightning is a dangerous phenomenon. That is why you should follow all safety rules and know how to behave properly during a thunderstorm.

Myth and only

Information about where most often beatslightning cleared. Now I want to dispel the myth that lightning does not hit the same place twice. Beats. Lightning is able to fall into the same object several times.