The Roman philosopher Lucretius held it was from the sound of hail colliding within clouds. Early thinking was that it was made by deities, but the ancient Greek philosophers attributed it to natural causes, such as wind striking clouds ( Anaximander, Aristotle) and movement of air within clouds ( Democritus). The cause of thunder has been the subject of centuries of speculation and scientific inquiry. The shared Proto-Indo-European root is * tón-r̥ or * tar-, also found in Gaulish Taranis. The name of the Nordic god Thor comes from the Old Norse word for thunder. In Latin the term was tonare "to thunder". Middle Dutch donre also Old Norse þorr, Old Frisian þuner, Old High German donar, all ultimately descended from Proto-Germanic * þunraz). The d in Modern English thunder (from earlier Old English þunor) is epenthetic, and is now found as well in Modern Dutch donder (cf. The scientific study of thunder is known as brontology and the irrational fear ( phobia) of thunder is called brontophobia. In turn, this expansion of air creates a sonic shock wave, often referred to as a "thunderclap" or "peal of thunder". The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning produces rapid expansion of the air in the path of a lightning bolt. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Cumulonimbus clouds often form thunderstorms. Thunder is the sound produced by lightning. Thunder is the sound caused by the rapidly expanding air.For other uses, see Thunder (disambiguation). A bolt of lightning heats the air along its path causing it to expand rapidly. It is at this point that we see lightning and hear thunder. The connection is made and the protons rush up to meet the electrons. When this happens, a stream of negative charges pours down toward a high point where positive charges have clustered due to the pull of the thunderhead. The accumulation of electric charges must be great enough to overcome the insulating properties of the air. Lightning happens when the negative charges (electrons) in the bottom of the cloud are attracted to the positive charges (protons) in the ground. This is because light travels much faster than sound. Thunder and lightning occur at roughly the same time although you see the flash of lightning before you hear the thunder. We see it as the bright flash of a lightning bolt. This electric current is known as the return stroke. When the stepped leader and the positive charge meet, a strong electric current carries positive charge up into the cloud. The positive charges at the ground are attracted to the stepped leader, so positive charge flows upward from the ground. Once the negative charge at the bottom of the cloud gets large enough, a flow of negative charge called a stepped leader rushes toward the Earth.
How Is a Lightning Bolt Formed?īecause opposites attract, the negative charge at the bottom of the storm cloud wants to link up with the ground’s positive charge. The top of the cloud becomes positively charged with particles called protons, while the base of the cloud becomes negatively charged. This separates the positive (+) and negative (-) charges of the cloud. Small negatively charged particles called electrons are knocked off some ice crystals and added to other ice crystals as they crash past each other. What's Happening Within the Cloud?Īs ice crystals high within a thunderstorm flow up and down in the turbulent air, they crash into each other. The expansion creates a shock wave that turns into a booming sound wave, known as thunder. A single stroke of lightning can heat the air around it to 30,000☌ (54,000☏)! This extreme heating causes the air to expand explosively fast. But wait a minute, what does thunder have to do with lightning? Well, lightning causes thunder.
In fact it is how thunderstorms got their name. Lightning is the most spectacular element of a thunderstorm. Lightning is a very strong jolt of electricity, creating glowing gas particles called plasma that light up the night sky.
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