I can also see sparks from static electricity (in the dark) when I brush my hair on an extremely dry day. What am I seeing?
2007-05-05 04:13:38 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
As electric current passes through the air in a bolt of lightning, the air becomes so hot that it ionises.
A lightning bolt is actually a bolt of plasma- what you're seeing is not electricity, but the light produced when air is heated to a very high temperature.
The same is true of any electrical spark. It is actually ionised air you are seeing, not the electricity itself.
2007-05-05 04:52:03 · answer #1 · answered by Wu-Li 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Light is not equal to electricity. Electricity, or formaly called current, is the flow of electrons through a conductor. When you see lightning or spark, what you see is the release of photons (light) due the interaction of the electrons with the matter. For example a bulb uses electricity to illuminates, however what the bulb does is transform electrical energy in to light. When the electrons pass through a resistence the matterial is heated, and as a consecuence of the heat it would radiates. As you see those are different processes.
2007-05-05 04:52:47 · answer #2 · answered by Javier G 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Where have you heard it said that the medium in which electricity passes cannot become luminous due to the current? Atoms can give of light due to either direct electronic excitation, or black body radiation from being Ohmically heated. In good conductors like copper, though, it requires very high current to get hot enough to produce visible light.
2007-05-05 07:18:50 · answer #3 · answered by Dr. R 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Same reason why you see light from a light bulb. The electric current heats it's surroundings which emits energy. You see this at multiple wavelengths, including visible light.
2007-05-05 05:38:46 · answer #4 · answered by Michael K 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Only by looking at a charged body (particle) we cannot tell if it is charged or not but moving charges produce heating,chemical and magnetic effects which can be observed detected and measured
Lightening, sparking are visible because of heating of air when charge passes through it
2007-05-05 09:12:45 · answer #5 · answered by ukmudgal 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
small or extremely large amounts of electricity can be invisible it has to do with the amount of Resistance something has as the electricity trys to pass through it.
2007-05-05 04:27:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are not seeing " Electricity" you are see one effect of electricity when it comes into contact with air / atmosphere.
2007-05-05 06:34:44 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If electricity is invisible, then why can you see a light bulb glow? Basically the same reasoning.
2007-05-05 04:20:45 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Individual electrons are invisible not their effect on the elements in which they travel through (search ion)
2007-05-05 04:21:38 · answer #9 · answered by Anon 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You are seeing super-heated air.
2007-05-05 04:22:23 · answer #10 · answered by Lab 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋