Is a THUNDER STORM nothing but a big GEIGER COUNTER Tube?

Question

Please Be VERBOSE in your answers cause it is more interesting that way.

Answer 1

Since some scientists believe that lightning (which causes thunder) is precipitated by a cosmic ray passing through the cloud, your analogy is pretty close. There is a very strong electric field between the cloud and the earth, which is analogous to the field in the Geiger counter tube. The spark in the tube which gives you the "count" is caused by a high energy particle passing through the thin atmosphere of the tube. Hence Lightning could be considered a "count". A pretty fair analogy I would say, although a thunderstorm is much more than a simple Geiger tube.

Answer 2

I believe that there are as many as one million lightning strikes occurring on the earth every second, It has also been considered that the sun could be the source of energy for lightning, the sun emits huge amounts of electrons energy and bathes the earth in radiation providing a potential trigger for electrons to pass through the atmosphere, some high energy matter passes through the earth as if it were not there, providing a path for electrons to flow. ( it should be supposed that a vacuum follows these high energy particles, a vacuum is a excellent conductor of electricity) This might explain why some lightning travels through the atmosphere without ever touching the earth. It should be suggested that there is strong correlation between thunderstorms and cosmic radiation.

If there is enough electron flow the plasma will leave the conductor provided by the vacuum causing the lightning to have a jagged appearance..

It is also possible that the clouds become charged by high energy particles providing a path for electrons to flow from space.

Answer 3

No, and I don't see how you could think of one in that way.