Lightning strikes us every day, blasting us with huge amounts of energy. Where does that energy go?

Question

Everyone knows energy cannot be created or destroyed. So when lightning hits, as it does with insane frequency, where the heck does the charge go?

Answer 1

It dissipates into the ground. As powerful as lightning strikes are, they're absorbed easily enough by a planet the size of earth.

Answer 2

Most of the answers are correct in saying that the charge dissipates into the ground (and energy is released in the form of light and heat), but a single lightning strike also has to be considered in the broader context of what’s usually called the “global electrical circuit.” In fact, there’s a potential (or voltage) difference between the ground and the ionosphere, so you can think of the whole system as a giant electrical circuit. Lightning is one way for the system to balance out, and there are other oddities—whistlers, sprites, and such—that are less familiar.

I guess the short answer is that there’s always a slight current (charge travelling upward) between the ground and the ionosphere. Lightning is just a dramatic example of an electric discharge.


Ryan Wyatt
Rose Center for Earth & Space
New York, New York

Answer 3

Most cloud-to-ground lightning strikes bring negative energy down to the ground, but some strikes deliver positive charge to the ground. Positive strikes are less common and emerge from the higher regions of the thundercloud. Some meteorologists believe that positive lightning strikes indicate storms that are more likely to spin out tornadoes.

Not all lightning bolts strike the ground. Many lightning discharges occur within and between thunderclouds. The most common type of lightning, called intracloud lightning, strikes between positive and negative areas in the same cloud. The bolt is not usually visible, but rather appears like a broad flash in the sky. A less common lightning strike occurs between oppositely charged areas of separate clouds.

Answer 4

lightning is the result of Air rising ( solar ) seperating the negative ions in the air causing an imbalance between psitive and negative ions.

The lightning is the charges equalizing or getting back together.

it heats the air which dissipates by mixing with more air.

So to summarize, electricty isnt energy created from nothing. The source of energy is the sun

Answer 5

Wow! sarcastically I purely study that tale very last evening and had an extremely with regards to idea that many ought to be sure this as only a lightning strike yet there is something deeper to the taking position than what the international ought to be sure. it must be purely, "have not graven photo..." and so he distroyed it. it ought to characterize, and that i trust its even deeper then that. there's a message in what befell or a caution or possibly an indication of something else to come back. i understand i'm acceptable about my feeling because over the previous 8 or so years I easily have had the present of sight/dicernment for some reason. although i'm no longer able to say precisely what or clarify to others the imformation I get carry of everytime, issues ensue confirming that i became forewarned..

Answer 6

Some of the above answers describe where the electic current of a lightning strike goes, not the energy. Some of the energy goes into ionizing air atoms, some goes into the light you see, and some is dissipated as heat as the current passes through air and earth. Eventually, the ionized atoms return to their nomal state, releasing their energy as radiation (light waves).

Answer 7

Hello there,
In answer to your question; All this energy simply dissapates harmlessly into the surrounding environment. Thunder is a part of this process.

That's the simple answer. But the simple answer only generates other questions. I read some articles about lightning and it's a really deep subject and explaining how it all works is sort of complicated. But, as I explain it the way I understand it, maybe you'll come away, not with a simple answer that doesn't tell you anything except cause more questions. Having a little better understanding of the subject, you'll gain enough insight be able to answer all kinds of questions for yourself. Really neat concept, isn't it?

Now, I don't want to insult your intelligence, but at the same time I want to give you something you can sink your teeth into just in case you don't know things you may be wondering about. At the same time, I'll try to keep things simple so as not to confuse you, so hang on, this explanation only scratches the surface!

First of all you probably already know that a lightning bolt contains many millions of volts of electricity and it can be hotter than the surface of the sun, plus a lightning strike is potentually a very dangerous occurance, often very diverse and seldom predictable as to how and where it hits.

For instance: A tree that's being struck: As the bolt travels along it's path the heat can instantaineously boil the sap within the tree, which can cause the tree to literally blow apart. Yet, a human or, animal can take a direct hit from a bolt. One may even detect where the bolt entered and exitied, the victim, yet, although being somewhat dazed, often is not badly hurt. It's all about, duration and intensity of the strike, plus makeup of objects the lightning "passes through", or "rides along the surface" of. Furthermore, lightning doesn't just make a quick hit and it's gone. It will bridge between two points and oscillate back and fourth between those points until the charge that initiated the strike is sufficiently equalized for the "spark" to collapse. This all happens within several micro-seconds of time. Nevertheless, being a lot of energy, if someone ever figures out a way of trapping and storing all that instantainious energy for later use; #1. There'd never, ever be any more energy worries again here on earth, #2. The person who figures out how to do it would probably become the richest person on earth very quickly. But here's the "kink in the hose," so to speak. The duration of a lightning strike is so short and powerful to track and store that it cannot be be of any practical use as it is, unless technology is invented to do the job.

A lightning bolt is nothing more than a very much larger version of a spark, or electrical arc, very similar to the spark that ignites fuel vapor to cause the cumbustion in the cylinders of our cars that makes them go, or ignits the vapor within the furnace that heats our house. Being much, much larger, the light emited from lightning is a form of superheated plasma developed by the tremendous forces that drive the strike. LIghtning is pure, random and unpredictable energy and like an ordinary spark, it contains nothing of any substance for one to get hold of. Besides that, the duration of the strike is so short that the affect ot it's tremendous energy is often relatively harmless to non-metalic objects located fairly close to where it moves and strikes. That's because it's energy is dissapated very, very quickly in the atmosphere that directly surrounds it.

However, lightning is not just a destructive, dangerous neusance. Two important by-products of lightning are Ozone and Nitrogen. Ozone, a natural air freshner, detected by a fresh sweet smell that lingers in the air after a thunder storm. Nitrogen is a sort of fertilizer, necessary for the growth and survival of all plant life on earth. These elements are caused by the ionization of air as lightning burns it's way through earth's atmosphere.

The thunder sound that follows lightning is nothing more than the atmosphere crashing in upon itself to fill the void left by the lightning as it burned it's path towards it's destination.

The affect of lightning's energy on things it strikes is sort of like waving one's hand through flames, or quickly touching a hot steel plate. Move your hand fast enough and you won't feel it, save maybe a little heat, the slower you move your hand, the more you feel the heat. Although the heat from these things can do much damage to your hand, move it through quickly enough and your skin is able to dissapate the heat energy fast enough to prevent damage to your hand as a whole. likewise a lightning bolt is so quick, it's energy is very quickly dissapated in the air that directly surrounds the bolt.

I hope this wasn't too much information for you, but I felt it necessary to explain some basics to help you understand the mechanics of lightning a little better. This in turn will help you see why, despite the monumental energy lightning brings with it, at the same time this energy has little damaging affect on Earth's atmosphere. In fact as pointed out earlier, lightning is also very beneficial to life on earth. Lightning is a very interesting subject and there is much more to it than the few basics I was able to share here.

If you have further questions, please email me at [e-mail]. I'm not an expert on these things, but I read a lot and I am a thinker.

Best to you
I am Gerald Rudy- shockeedoc

Answer 8

Google the scientist "Nikola Tesla", you'd probably find his work interesting. In fact, I recommend you pull up "Google video" first, then do a search on him, very interesting stuff...he figured out a way for everyone on the planet to have free energy too.

Yes, it dissapates into the ground.

Answer 9

it turns into a diferent kind of energy, heat. this is why they cause fires and crystalyze sand when it strikes at the beach (seen it myself).

Answer 10

It 'earths', in other words the charge becomes neutralized by ions which are present in the soil.