4 ms·
That 7 second video of a small rocket shot into a cloud to induce a lightning strike (about half way down the article) is incredible. https://www.youtube.com/w
by nomilk 5mo ago
That 7 second video of a small rocket shot into a cloud to induce a lightning strike (about half way down the article) is incredible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BJIiX9_c_M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BJIiX9_c_M
Any ideas why the lightning strike appears mostly green (and momentarily purple and orange)?
- deepandmeaning 5mo agoI'm imagining it's something related to the copper wire.
- teh_infallible 5mo agoI always wanted to replicate this with a helium balloon and a long, wet string coated with copper filings.
- CamelCaseCondo 5mo agoMaybe just salt water and skip the filings?
- CamperBob2 5mo agoEven better, use hydrogen!
- IAmBroom 5mo agoHydrogen string is notoriously hard to tie knots in.
- batch12 5mo agoYou'd probably need a very large balloon to overcome the weight of the string
- aaron695 5mo ago[dead]
- postalcoder 5mo agoCopper emits a green-blue light in the flame test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwsexjcROH4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwsexjcROH4
- innis226 5mo agoThe surrounding air becomes ionized. Since Earth’s atmosphere is mostly nitrogen, and ionized nitrogen often emits a purple glow.
- CGMthrowaway 5mo agoWhy don't we do this on the norm and somehow harness the energy? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvesting_lightning_energy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvesting_lightning_energy
- kjkjadksj 5mo agoPrize is too low. Says it only delivers 38 gallons of gas equivalent energy, assuming no loss which there will be.
- margalabargala 5mo agoThere are some places that are hit by lighting with high regularity where it might make sense. Lightning rods on tall buildings. Somewhere near here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catatumbo_lightning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catatumbo_lightning
- j_seigh 5mo agoLighting rods also work by dissipating the local electric potential and reducing the likelihood of a lightning strike. That's why they are pointed, or fractal in the newer ones. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_rod https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_rod "and that a considerable electric current can be measured through the conductors as ionization occurs at the point when an electric field is present, such as happens when thunderclouds are overhead." You can get a ground charge even when thunderclouds aren't present. It just has to be windy. I've always wondered if it was worth collecting this, say with a field with a grid of interconnected lightning rods in a windy location.
- quinncom 5mo agoIt must have been so fun to be Benjamin Franklin. He installed an electric bell in-line on his first lightning rods so that this increase in electrical potential would cause the bell to ring, signaling that the danger for lightning was increased. You can experience this voltage potential firsthand: take a friend to a hill or somewhere where high‑voltage power lines are nearer to the ground. One person, wearing rubber-soled shoes, stands tall with an arm in the air. The other squats down with both hands on the ground. The standing person uses the non-raised hand to gently touch the sensitive skin of the other person (ear lobe, lips), and they can feel an electric arc.