Things That Go "Boom!"

Today was another one of those thunder and lightning and deluge kind of days. It reminded me of a conversation I had earlier in the week with my dentist. Well, not really a conversation. There can’t be an exchange of dialogue when someone has their hands in your mouth, can there? Don’t you just love it when they’re working on your teeth and start asking you questions? Anyway, to rephrase, she was talking and I was listening. She had told her kids it would be a good project to see if they could discover where thunder and lightning came from. They, however, didn’t think it sounded like a fun thing to do on a rainy afternoon. I, on the other hand, was intrigued, but admittedly forgot to Google it until I noticed today’s gloomy skies. Allow me to enlighten you (pun intended!).

Lightning flashes, thunder booms. Any questions?

Okay, okay. Science never was one of my favorite subjects, but let me see if I can expound on that.

Lightning is an electric current. In a thundercloud, small bits of ice (frozen raindrops) bump into each other as they move around in the air and all of those collisions create an electric charge. After the entire cloud fills up with electrical charges, the positive charges (protons) form at the top of the cloud and the negative charges (electrons) form at the bottom of the cloud. Since opposites attract (THAT part I remember!), it causes a positive charge to build up on the ground beneath the cloud. The ground’s electrical charge collects around anything that protrudes, like mountains, trees or (yikes!) people. The charge coming up from these points eventually connects with a charge reaching down from the cloud and … Zap! Lightning strikes!

The grumbles and growls of thunder come from the rapid expansion of the air surrounding the lightning. When a bolt travels from the cloud to the ground, it opens up a hole in the air. Once the light is gone, the air collapses back in and creates a sound wave. Voila! Thunder! The flash of lightning and accompanying thunder occur around the same time, but we see lightning before we hear thunder because light travels faster than sound.

Yes, this is probably useless weather trivia, but I find it as fascinating as those nerdy scientists. I’m thinking I should have paid more attention in class.