lightning facts.

For all you people out there with brontophobia (fear of thunder and lightning) here are some facts about it. I did it ALL from memory. 1. Lightning can range from 100 million to 1 billion volts of power. 2. It can be a trillion watts and 200,000 amperes of power. 3. You have 9/10 chance of surviving lightning. 4. There is more chance of dying by a shark attack than lightning, and a 10 times more chance dying by a falling coconut at terminal velocity(the fastest speed an object can reach during freefall- 100-145 mph) than a shark attack. (so if a person sasys "If you survive, I'll let you go, but you have to choose one to get hurt. Either a falling coconut or ligthning..." better choose lightning. 5. Florida and Equatorial Africa have the highest potential for lightning. (Grr... Florida has only half as much lightning than equatorial Africa) 6. See diagram to see how lightning is formed.

Fig 1- A cumulonimbus thundercloud. Fig 2- Ice particles crash against each other, building up a charge. Fig 3- The heavier negatively charged electrons ( marked as -) sinks to the bottom of the cloud, while the positively charged protons (marked as +) float to the top. Fig 4- A positive charge thus forms on the ground. Fig 5- Since different charges attract, the cloud lets out a negative streamer. Scientists don't know why it takes the path it takes, and the streamer travels in a random path, either cloud to cloud, or ground to cloud, or ground to ground. At the gr\ound, a positive charge also leaps upwards. You can see these, which can be 3-30 ft tall. (Not that I care, but if your hair stands on its end, and you get a metallic taste in your mouth, and you're in the middle of an open field, duck down) and if you see these coming up from any where, espscially you, (I would have stayed to watch where it would hit) but you need to go inside. Fig 6- The negative streamer touches a positive streamer, or an object. Fig 7- The charge is discharged from the cloud, and we see the bright flash we call lightning. Fig 8- The lightning vaporizing the tree. Fig 9- Try not letting this happen to you... unless you want to. (I'd think of it ONLY in the name of science, or trying to commit suicide which I hope none of you will try) Fig 10- The remains of the tree. 7. Even though lightning tends to strike tall objects, it just strikes where the streamer touches first, it can hit any other object. 8. Salt water is more conductive than fresh water, so being stranded in the middle of a lake during a thunderstorm, is slightly less risky than in the ocean. 9. You can calculate how far lightning hit by this simple proportion- 5 sec (3 sec) since strike to thunder= 1 mi(1 km) 10. If lightning strikes near you, be prepared for a horrunus bang. When lightning struck just a 1/4 mile away, (((((KABOOM!)))))). So it must be loud striking 5 ft in front of you. 11. Lightning is dangerous. (unless you're like me, and don't care too much about saftey [too much saftey is for sissies and scardey cats] and love lightning) Stay away from windows and don't stand under a tree or any tall objects during a thunderstorm. Go indoors or into a car. If you are caught in an open field, duck down. Dont lie down though, because you cover more surface area, AND you are mostly made of water (that makes you a conductor). Your shoes are insulated. 12. The reason why the car is safe, is because the cars' metal body acts like a Faraday cage. (a Faraday cage is an invention made by [of course] Michael Faraday, supposed to conduct electricity around the object placed underneath, leaving the object unharmed.) Well, I know lots more, but I TRIED to simplify it. I just can't remember more now.