Multymeter.com–Electrical Engineering: Loud booming sounds and lightning are quite frightening, especially if being struck by lightning is not a frequent occurrence, the victim can suffer serious and potentially fatal injuries.
Lightning carries between 1 and 10 billion joules of energy. Approximately this energy is capable of powering a 100-watt light bulb for 3 months.
Another comparison, when lightning strikes the ground, the lightning can produce 300 kilovolts of energy, or 150 times more than the electricity used in industry. While the speed of lightning can reach 300,000 kilometers/hour.
Not only that, lightning can also heat the air around it to a temperature of almost 27,700 degrees Celsius. That is almost five times hotter than the surface temperature of the sun.
Before lightning strikes humans, there are sometimes signs that can be seen. One of them is hair standing on end.
Reasons why hair stands on end before lightning strikes
The phenomenon when hair stands on end before lightning strikes can be understood from the explanation of lightning.
Lightning is a natural discharge of static electricity. Tiny ice particles in the air are pushed by warm air currents and collide with each other.
This creates a charge and an electrical potential in the cloud. Through charge separation, the positive and negative charges are neutralized.
However, the presence of opposite charges on the ground will amplify the electric field, being stronger on objects closer to the storm cloud.
These objects are usually trees or skyscrapers. Unfortunately, sometimes the closest object is a human.
The impending lightning strike would be preceded by the hair standing on end. This is similar in principle to the experiment of rubbing a balloon on a cloth and placing it next to someone’s head so that their hair defies gravity.
The ions in the hair respond to the difference in electrical potential between the storm cloud and the Earth. Thus, a lightning victim becomes part of the path to discharge thousands of volts when the ions finally neutralize.
News page 4029 states that an electrical charge is formed as part of a positive lightning strike. This charge causes the hair to bristle.
When the hairs start to bristle, we had better get into the room immediately. Standing under a natural lightning rod such as a tree or under a metal umbrella is still dangerous.
Another tip is told by the U.S. National Weather Service, if hair begins to stand up, a person can kneel down and lean forward, but not lie on the ground. This is because wet ground is a good conductor of electricity.***
