What is Ball Lightning?.?

Question

Describe ball lightning, occurence condition for phenomena.

Answer 1

sad that most of these answers sound the EXACT SAME. yeah, i agree with that other guy that said please dont pick one of them as a best answer. like it's hard to look it up on wikipedia and copy and paste the info as your own. Some didn't even cite wikipedia and are trying to pass that off as their own answer. Pathetic. Well, I was going to answer your question, but i think the wikipedia sheep have got that covered for you.

Answer 2

Ball lightning reportedly takes the form of a glowing, floating object often the size and shape of a basketball, but it can also be golf ball sized or smaller. It is sometimes associated with thunderstorms, but unlike lightning flashes arcing between two points, which last a small fraction of a second, ball lightning reportedly lasts many seconds. There have been some reports of production of a similar phenomenon in the laboratory, but some still disagree on whether it is the same phenomenon

Answer 3

Ball lightning reportedly takes the form of a glowing, floating object often the size and shape of a basketball, but it can also be golf ball sized or smaller. It is sometimes associated with thunderstorms, but unlike lightning flashes arcing between two points, which last a small fraction of a second, ball lightning reportedly lasts many seconds. There have been some reports of production of a similar phenomenon in the laboratory, but some still disagree on whether it is the same phenomenon.

Answer 4

Ball lightning reportedly takes the form of a glowing, floating object often the size and shape of a basketball, but it can also be golf ball sized or smaller. It is sometimes associated with thunderstorms, but unlike lightning flashes arcing between two points, which last a small fraction of a second, ball lightning reportedly lasts many seconds. There have been some reports of production of a similar phenomenon in the laboratory, but some still disagree on whether it is the same phenomenon.

Ball lightning discharges were once thought to be extremely rare occurrences, but recent research shows that a few percent of the US population have been witnesses.

The discharges reportedly appear during thunderstorms, sometimes issuing from a lightning flash, but large numbers of encounters reportedly occur during good weather with no storms within hundreds of miles.

Ball lightning reportedly tends to float (or hover) in the air and take on a ball-like appearance. Its shape has been described as spherical, ovoid, teardrop, or rod-like with one dimension being much larger than the others. The longest dimension reported is between fifteen and forty centimeters. Many are red to yellow in colour, sometimes transparent, and some contain radial filaments or sparks. Other colours, such as blue or white occur as well.

For further details, check out my source.

Answer 5

Oh wow, PLEASE don't choose the sorry copy cats of wikipedia for a best answer. Ball Lightning can be 2-10 cm in diameter, move parallel to the Earth, descends from thunderstorm clouds, usually at the beginning, there are several theories to the cause of ball lightning, but none have been proven to this day.

Answer 6

Ball lightning reportedly takes the form of a glowing, floating object often the size and shape of a basketball, but it can also be golf ball sized or smaller. It is sometimes associated with thunderstorms, but unlike lightning flashes arcing between two points, which last a small fraction of a second, ball lightning reportedly lasts many seconds. There have been some reports of production of a similar phenomenon in the laboratory, but some still disagree on whether it is the same phenomenon.

Ball lightning discharges were once thought to be extremely rare occurrences, but recent research shows that a few percent of the US population have been witnesses. Surveys have been taken of eyewitness accounts by at least 3000 people.

Ball lightning is photographed very rarely, and details of witness accounts can vary widely. Many of the properties observed in ball lightning accounts conflict with each other, and it is very possible that several different phenomena are being incorrectly grouped together. It is also possible that some photos are fakes.

The discharges reportedly appear during thunderstorms, sometimes issuing from a lightning flash, but large numbers of encounters reportedly occur during good weather with no storms within hundreds of miles.

Ball lightning reportedly tends to float (or hover) in the air and take on a ball-like appearance. Its shape has been described as spherical, ovoid, teardrop, or rod-like with one dimension being much larger than the others. The longest dimension reported is between fifteen and forty centimeters. Many are red to yellow in colour, sometimes transparent, and some contain radial filaments or sparks. Other colours, such as blue or white occur as well.

Sometimes the discharge is described as being attracted to a certain object, and sometimes as moving randomly. After several seconds the discharge reportedly leaves, disperses, is absorbed into something, or, rarely, vanishes in an explosion.

An early attempt to explain ball lightning was recorded by Nikola Tesla in 1904.

Difficult features of the lightning include its persistence and its near-neutral buoyancy in air. A popular hypothesis is that ball lightning is a highly ionized plasma contained by self-generated magnetic fields: a plasmoid.[citation needed] This hypothesis is not initially credible. If the gas is highly ionized, and if it is near thermodynamic equilibrium, then it must be very hot. Since it must be in pressure equilibrium with the surrounding air, it will be much lighter and hence float up rapidly. Magnetic fields, if present, might provide the plasmoid's coherence, but will not reduce this buoyancy. In addition, a hot plasma cannot persist for long because of recombination and heat conduction.

There may, however, be some novel form of plasma for which the above arguments do not fully apply. For example, a plasma may be composed of negative and positive ions, rather than electrons and positive ions. In that case, the recombination may be rather slow even at ambient temperature. One such theory involves positively charged hydrogen and negatively charged nitrites (NO2–) and nitrates (NO3–). In this theory, the role of the ions as seeds for the condensation of water droplets is important.

If ball lightning releases energy stored in chemical form, its persistence and neutral bouyancy might be more easily understood. The reaction might proceed slowly due to kinetic or geometric constraints, and the reaction could take place near ambient temperature. One of the first detailed theories of this sort involved the oxidation of nanoparticle networks formed when normal lightning strikes on soil. A recent experimental investigation of this effect by evaporating pure silicon with an electric arc reported producing "luminous orbs the size of ping-pong balls" lasting several seconds. The coherence of the collection of nanoparticles may be inhanced by vortex motion, like that of a smoke ring.

There has been many studies into this phenomena. I hope this helps!

Answer 7

Ball lightning is a uncommon, yet actual, phenomenon. curiously as a pink ball floating alongside the floor almost immediately earlier the strike. i'd clarify the technique, yet you mentioned no longer too.