Lightning and Thunder

Lightning and Thunder 

Lightning and thunder occur almost simultaneously, and common people have little knowledge about the differences between them Lightning is an electrical current that flows from one cloud to another, or from one cloud down to earth. The tiny droplets of water in clouds have electrical charges on their surface. The larger droplets have positive electrical charges, and the smaller ones negative charges. When these charges come near each other, they produce a huge spark — a lightning flash. 'The same thing occurs when positive charges between clouds and earth come close to each other. When lightning from cloud to cloud gives off electrical current, that current travels only through the air and does not cause damage. But lightning from clouds to earth can cause property damage and death because it passes through whatever is in its path on the way to the ground — trees, water, and people. Lightning flashes between clouds can travel up to distances of 20 miles, but those from clouds to earth may travel up to eight miles. But both travel at speeds up to one hundred million miles per second. But thunder, on the other hand, is only the sound accompanying the lightning. It is, so to say, a byproduct of lightning. When electricity is given off through lightning, it heats the air in its path. This heating makes the air expand quickly and often violently. The molecules of heated air fly around in all directions and collide with cooler, distant air. This collision sets up a wave of noisy, rumbling air which we call thunder. Thunder does not do any damage to people or property, except possibly to some serious heart patients who might be affected by its sudden, loud and   violent sound. The sound of thunder travels only at a speed of one fifth of a •mile per second. So, lightning and thunder are different things though occurring almost simultaneously: lightning is electrical current occurring in clouds, thunder is loud sound occurring in air, the one causes destruction, the other does not; the€ one travels at an extremely high speed, the other only very slowly compared to that.