Where Does Lightning Come From?

Whales are the largest current existing aquatic creature in the ocean (except when you believe in the existence of other large mysterious or unidentified creatures of the sea). Due to the large sizes of this sea creatures, it makes them an easy target for the lightning to strike and fry them out of the ocean. Although, this isn't actually the case and they aren't lightning proof either.

Before we get into the answer, let's go over through some theory that I came across on my research regarding about this subject.


There was one scientific theory that during the early stages of Earth's creations (probably billions of years ago), the surface of the Earth was entirely covered with water being struck by lightning repeatedly.

Since Earth's surface was nothing but water, scientists claims that the first early life forms were aquatic creatures. And, you may be surprise to know that some scientists believed that the whales are one among the prehistoric creatures of the past that managed to survived throughout the age.

Assuming that in the past the whales so as other large sea creatures populates the entire surface of the Earth, on this kind of situation there is a very high chances that some of them will surely get struck by lightning. But, are they?

The answer can actually be either "Yes" or "No" and here's the following reason why:

1. The Answer is Yes

A whale or any creature of the sea can be hit by lightning if they intentionally float out onto the surface especially right in the middle of an on-going terrible thunderstorm. Although, the chances of a certain whale to put itself at such risk is very low. They probably knew about the danger.


When a thunderstorm occurs in the ocean, large waves are created by the strong winds. Maybe this serves as the sign which warns the whales not to come out and stay at the deep portion of the ocean.

2. The Answer is No

When a lightning strikes the surface of a water, the electrical discharge will spread out and easily disperse. It is due to this reason why electrical currents cannot harm any living creatures in the ocean as long as they stay submerged during a thunderstorm.


Overall, whales don't get hit by lightning unless they are stupid enough to expose themselves out in the middle of a thunderstorm.

"Static Electricity" is a type of natural electricity caused by natural elements around your surroundings. All objects can actually be electrically charge. So if a certain object has been charged-up and placed near another object, it will cause a small electric spark reaction. In some cases, it pulls the other object like the characteristic of a magnet.

Who first discovered static electricity?

Static electricity is nothing new in the field of science because it has already been discovered since the Ancient Greek period. According to the science history book, "Thales" was the person who first discovered static electricity. He was able to discover it by rubbing an amber into a silk-cloth then putting them near on small pieces of straws. As a result, the straws jumps up and stuck into the amber.

Scientists today have found out that the rubbing process of the amber onto the silk-cloth gave the object an electrical charge.

Glass-ball made out of amber material

Silk Fabric

Thales' successful experiment was very simple which can be safely performed by anyone. In fact, a lot of individuals made their own similar experiments on different objects.

One of the most common similar experiment is the use of a plastic comb and small pieces of paper. The amber is substituted by the comb where you can give it an electrical charge by combing your hair for at least one minute. When you're done, immediately hold your comb near the small pieces of paper. You will notice that the small pieces of paper gets attracted into the comb.

Benefits of Static Electricity

Natural static electricity that you often experiences on your daily life doesn't really bring any benefits to anyone. It's actually the opposite that causes problems.

The girl's hair are standing up at their ends due to static electricity

As an ordinary individual, simply walking over the carpet with your bare naked feet can cause static electricity to charge your body up. On this case, you may induce a static shock to another person when you touch him or her. Even by simply wearing jackets that are made of synthetic fabric can also produce static electricity felt by person wearing it.

A guy and his green colored synthetic jacket

In all electronic industries (especially those companies dealing with the sensitive Integrated Circuits/IC or micro-chips), static electricity is strictly being prevented. It's because it can easily damage the micro-chips.

16 Pins Integrated Circuit (IC)

Moreover, static electricity is being continuously studied by many scientists. As a result of their studies, they have discovered various means and products on how to prevent static electricity from being charged on a certain object.

As the name states, "AcuRite 02020" is a portable device that allows you to detect the presence of lightning around your surroundings. It is actually the perfect gadget when going for an outdoor activities such as treasure hunting, playing golf ball, swimming on the beach and etc...

We won't be discussing here about AcuRite's electronic design as they can be very complicated to understand especially those who does not have any knowledge on this field. But for those Electronic Enthusiasts, I do suggest that you should contact the manufacturers.

So how does the AcuRite 02020 work as a useful device?

As we have already discussed on the previous post, there are several and different types of lightning that occurs. The most common type of lightning that is often observed by many is the "cloud-to-ground". Since cloud-to-ground type of lightning possess the threat to anyone on the ground, AcuRite 02020 has been designed to detect its possible occurrences. In short, it gives an early warning if a lightning is about to occur nearby.

This device can detect a circular-coverage of up to 25 miles range. Once it has detected the presence of lightning around its coverage area, an audible alarm will warn the user. In addition to the audible alarm is a flashing red light located at the top of its screen.

On the screen of AcuRite 02020, the analysis of this device are shown displaying the total number of lightning that it is able to detect. And the most interesting feature about this gadget is that, it has the capability to make an estimate of the distance of lightning that is about to occur.

Is the Lighting Detection of AcuRite 02020 Accurate?

One of my favorite outdoor activity is treasure hunting. I actually own a couple of metal detectors because I find searching old buried coins under the ground a quite interesting hobby. And in order to find something that is worth value, you really have to search them on places such as on abandoned residential areas, parks and beaches.


Sometimes, thunderstorm do surprises us while we are out in the field. I have already an experience seeing a lightning strike at very close distance. Thank God that me and my friends never got hit.

Due to the danger, I am happy that I came across this AcuRite 02020 device on my searches here on the internet. I immediately purchased one from the Amazon and when it got delivered, me and my friends went out for a test.

This gadget is pocket-size and portable which allows me to carry it "always" along with me without any problem. I only check on it when its alarm sends out a warning sound.

According to the manufacturer, it is "Water Resistant" which means that it won't get damaged even when submerge underwater. But, I'm pretty sure that there's a limit into this feature.

When me and my fellow treasure hunters still don't have an AcuRite 02020 in our past activities, the moment that we hear thunder or a flash of lightning above the sky, we immediately vacate and leave the area. But there were times that upon leaving the area, the weather goes back to normal. Such occurrences is called "fake-lighting" and it is really causes us so much trouble in our activity.

The AcuRite 02020 is really a very reliable gadget for us because it can detect false lightning due to its enhanced "interference rejection" capabilities. With this very reliable feature of the device, we are sure when it's the right time to leave the area or not.

Overall, the AcuRite 02020 Portable Lightning Detector is a "must have" gadget for people who spends most of their time at the outside environment.

Both "conductors" and "insulators" plays an important part in the field of electricity. So what exactly is the difference between them? Let's find out.

Conductors

Conductors are any type of materials that allows "electrical current" to flow-through them such as copper, silver, gold and other objects with metallic properties. And, it's not just any metallic materials but also other things like water and the living flesh.

Speaking about the "living-flesh", I have already seen a lot of stuntman who had successfully performed a deadly act playing with a powerful source of electricity. What they usually do is that, they will act as the conductor allowing the electric-current to pass-through their body and at the same, they will direct it into the ground. Without proper-grounding, the performer will instantly get burned with no chances of surviving.

One iconic magician and stuntman of our generation today is "David Blaine" who performed an electrifying stunt in the city of New York. His stunt involved being surrounded by 7 Tesla Coils while wearing a 27 pound chain-mail suit, wire helmet and a visor. Blaine was able to accomplish his deadly-stunt in which he remained on the podium for 72 hours unharmed.

How about water (H2O)?

Did you know that water or H2O is a far much better conductor than any objects with metallic properties? Some sources claims that when a certain person got electrocuted while in-contact with water, the electrical current induced into the victim is doubled. As a matter of fact, the majority of individuals who had accidentally died from electrocution were those people taking their bath during a really bad thunderstorm.

As for the metallic types of conductors, they are very common around your surroundings. Some common examples are wire cables, vehicles, railways and etc...

Insulators

"Non-Conductors" or insulators are the type of materials that is the "complete opposite" of the conductors. They have characteristic of resisting electrical current preventing it from pass-through them. Some common examples of insulators are ceramics, glasses and rubbers.

Common application of insulators is to protect anyone from making accidental contact to any powerful source of electricity. If you go outside your house and observe those long power-cable lines, you will notice that the wires are covered with thick insulator-rubber.


In addition to the rubber coating of the cable wires, you may also notice some strange objects connected from the tower (also called "Pylons"). If you can take a closer look into those objects, the wires are connected into them. Those objects are actually insulators made out of ceramic material. Their purpose is to prevent the electricity from travelling into the tower or post.

Lightning Attraction to Metal and Water

We already know for a fact that lightning are best attracted by metal and water (especially "Salty Water"). It's because they are the most highly-conducive(*) type of material here on the surface of the Earth. As a result, lightning tends to search the most conducive spot to strike down.

(*Conducive means, a material with the least resistance against electrical currents.)

Metal

All kinds of metals are good electrical conductors the reason why lightning is being attracted to them. In fact, there has already been countless number of lightning strike victims that got hit through the metal objects that they were wearing. Such objects includes belt-buckles, keys and jewelries.

Assuming that a certain individual is wearing a large belt-buckle but unfortunately, he suddenly got struck by a lightning. What will happen is that, the electrical current induced by the lightning will travel into the most conducive part of the victim's body. On this case, he is wearing a large belt-buckle. All current will be channeled into the belt-buckle causing it to get extremely hot (an average lightning bolt can reach around 30,000 Kelvin or 53, 540 Degrees Fahrenheit) . With such extreme temperature, the victim will suffer a serious burn.

Water (Salty Water)

When it comes to attracting lightning, the water especially "salty-water" from the sea or ocean tends to attract lightning a lot much better than any metals. It's because salt water is actually a better conducive type of element.

If it happens that you went out fishing into the sea but you got caught under an unexpected thunderstorm, your risk of being struck by lightning is very low. This is because most of the strikes are being attracted by the salty water which is by far much highly conducive than your boat.

Moreover, the main difference between conductors and insulators is their characteristic on how they influence an electric current to pass-through them. To sum it up, conductors allows electrical current to flow through them while insulators is simply the complete the opposite.