Every Tuesday, TSCW offers up a Quiz, Brainteaser, or Riddle to test your smarts and expand your mind. Think you know a thing or two about a thing or two? Find out below!
Helicopters build a negative charge while flying, so if they fly into a positively charged cloud formation, lightning can occur! The word fulgarite comes from the Latin word fulgur, which means lightning. It’s true! Lightning can heat the air it zaps through to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun. True! During volcanic eruptions, plumes of earth and ash collide in the air to create an electrical charge. The difference between the plume’s electrical charge and the atmospheric charge can cause lightning. Giant thunderstorms occur at Lake Maracaibo up to 160 nights per year, averaging 28 lightning strikes per minute! This is a myth, as lightning often strikes the same place multiple times. Tall, pointed structures in isolated spots can be lightning targets. For example, the Empire State Building in New York is hit an average of 23 times a year!
Results
#1. TRUE OR FALSE: Helicopters can cause lightning.
#2. When lightning strikes sand, it fuses the grains to form a hollow or tubular rock that is called:
#3. TRUE OR FALSE: Lightning is hotter than the sun.
#4. High-voltage electrical current that is passed through wood can create a lightning-shaped burn pattern. This process is called:
#5. TRUE OR FALSE: Volcanoes can cause lightning.
#6. What is the average width of a lightning bolt?
#7. What location on earth receives the most lightning strikes?
#8. TRUE OR FALSE: Lightning never strikes the same place twice.
