My seven yr old wants to know what causes thunder and lightening?

Question

Need answers suitable for a 7 year old

Answer 1

I am a volunter with the National Weather Service as a Skywarn Spotter and this is one of my forte's

Unfortunantly I am not a good teacher so it may be a little technical but if you read it I am sure you can explain it to your child

Lightning is a result of atmospheric static discharge the rusulting discharge is called lightning (Thunder)Lightning can be as hot as 54,000°F (30,000°C), a temperature that is five times hotter than the surface of the sun! But when air is heated to 54,000°F in a fraction of a second, a phenomenon known as "explosive expansion" occurs. This is where air expands so rapidly that it compresses the air in front of it, forming a shock wave similar to a sonic boom. Exploding fireworks produce a similar result.

To learn more about Lightning and Thunder use these links
Thunder http://www.srh.noaa.gov/srh/jetstream/lightning/thunder.htm

Lightning
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/srh/jetstream/lightning/lightning.htm

As a Skywarn Spotter I represent the NWS so as a part of many of my answers I also include links for safety
Please review these Links and Enjoy your Summer
and Give your seven year old a High Five for such a great question for his/her age. I ave stared your question for your child

http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/more.htm

http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/overview.htm

http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/

http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/survivors.htm

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/severewx/safety.php

Please let your child know as well that there is no reason to fear thunder and lightning but it is to be respected.
I had to teach my kids about lightning and thunder just a few years ago and once they understood the concept the now love thunder storm we will sit in our ford explorer and watch the storms and they LOVE IT as well as I

Answer 2

Water droplets falling from clouds can carry electrons far flung from some thing of the droplets like sand grains blowing off the suitable of a dune. This creates an electron "vacuum" contained in the cloud. those electrons then convey mutually contained in the earth. Air does no longer as a rule habit electric powered modern, yet when the voltage is extreme sufficient, it is going to. If a cloud low in electrons passes over an part of floor saturated with an electric powered charge, the electrons can all of sudden flow from the earth decrease back into the cloud. The electrons superheat a skinny column of air about an inch in diameter. The air molecules are ionized and this creates a form of count familiar as a plasma. The solar and the gas interior a fluorescent tube are also plasma. Lightening is way brighter than fluorescent lights and is even brighter and hotter than the exterior of the solar. This surprising era of a lot warmth creates an explosion around the lightening and the sound wave produced is what people percieve as thunder.

Answer 3

Updrafts and downdrafts rub water mist and ice particles together in thunderclouds. Electricity partitions from the rubbing like a battery (tribocharging). When the voltage separation gets high enough there is a big spark (Iightning) between clouds or to the ground. Lightning is so hot it explodes the air it touches, causing thunder.

Answer 4

I made this as easy I could, but if your 7 year old doesn't understand, please convert it into his answer that he will understand.
Lightning is an atmospheric discharge of electricity, which usually, but not always, occurs during rain storms, and frequently during volcanic eruptions or dust storms. And thunder is a shock wave created by the lightning bolt(caused by the rapid heating and expansion of the air surrounding and within a bolt of lightning).

Answer 5

Since going into a deal about separation of charge doesn't work well, just say there are explosions in the sky, the flashes are lightening and the sounds is thunder.

Answer 6

Thunder and lightning is caused by electricity. When you turn on a light electricity makes the light bulb light up just like electricity makes lightning bolts light up. When that happens, the clouds burst like baloons filled with water, causing loud thunder, and water falls from the sky to quench the thirst of plants and animals. My mom used to tell me that the thunder was caused by God and his angels re-arranging the furniture in his castle of angels and sometimes they would bump them into the walls.

Answer 7

well just cuz he's seven u can tell him this, and i dont know the answe haha but my grandma's freind used to always tell me this:

Sometimes the angels up in heaven like to go bowling. Once they start to really bowl, they start to sweat. *Forming rain* When they roll the bowling ball down the alley thats what makes the loud thunder noise. And when the get a strike, the lighting STRIKEs haha hope this helps

Answer 8

When the heavy clouds bump each other... just like stones, if you scrub them it'll produce heat or light.....while thunder is the sound of the bumping of the clouds........