Simon and Alan's Science Fair Project

"LIGHTNING"

Striking Facts About Lightning

    A flash of lightning strikes in the dessert near Tuscon, Arizona every 5 minutes with 1 billion volts in every single flash. That’s enough to power a 100-volt lightbulb for 3 months!

    A lightning flash happens in a fraction of a second. In that amount of time, it super heats the surrounding air to 5 times the heat on the surface of the sun.

    When lightning happens, the air around it expands and vibrates and makes a sound we call thunder. But because sound is slower than light, we see lightning before we hear thunder.

T    o count how far away lightning, count the time between lightning and thunder. Every five seconds counts as a mile, so if there is fifteen seconds in between the lightning and thunder, it is 3 miles away.

Proving the Electricity in Lightning

    Possibly the most famous (and dangerous) experiment to prove that there is electricity in lightning happened in 1752 when Benjamin Franklin flew a kite during a Pennsylvania thunderstorm. As lightning flashed, sparks flew from a key fastened to the bottom of the kite.

    A silk ribbon attached to the string near Franklins hand protected him from getting electrocuted.

    This experiment can be done in a much safer way. On a dark day, drag your sneakers across a carpet. Then go and touch a doorknob. A spark should fly, just like in the first experiment, there is a little pop, and a small shock. You become a thundercloud for a second by giving off extra negative electrons. Let’s go back to the construction paper demonstration. When the styrofoam gets rubbed on your hair, negative electrons jump from the hair to the styrofoam. Than, when the styrofoam moves back, the negative electrons jump back to the hair because there aren’t enough negative electrons.

What’s it Like Being Close to a Strike of Lightning?

    It’s no laughing matter. Lightning is a dangerous thing. Many Americans get struck by lightning every year, and although the odds of getting struck by lightning are really slim, it is the leading cause of weather deaths in the U.S. A photographer for a book called Lightning, named Warren Faidley, almost got struck by lightning, and he said what it was like.

"About 9:30 pm on October 16, 1988," he said, "lightning struck a pole just 400 feet in front of me. The strike was so close and so bright I was blinded for a moment. The thunder was immediate, like a million drums going off in my head. I lost my balance... when I got to my feet, and closed my eyes, I could still see the outline of the lightning bolt."

Make your own lightning!

Ever wonder how to make your own lightning? Here’s how!!

Equipment:     Aluminum pie pan Styrofoam plate (like a meat plate)

                    Styrofoam cup Scissors

                    Tape

Hypothesis:     We think that the project will work, but not in the light.

Procedure:

(1) Cut off about 2 thirds of the side of the cup to make a handle.

(2)Tape the handle to the inside of the aluminum pie pan.

(3) Rub the styrofoam plate all over your hair very fast to create static electricity. Lay it down on a flat surface.

(4) Pick up the aluminum pie pan using the handle and drop it on the styrofoam plate.

(5)Very slowly, touch your finger to the aluminum pie plate.

(6) Pick up the pie plate again. (Do not drop it yet!!)

(7) Drop the aluminum pie plate on the styrofoam again. Keep doing this until there isn’t any static left over.

Observations:     If you do this in the dark, there will be a small spark. You will feel a little shock (no risk, don’t worry) and if it is quiet enough, there should be a little pop.

If you do this in the light, there won’t be any lightning, but you will feel a shock and there will be a pop.

Conclusion:     Our hypothesis was right. The lightning happened, but went really fast so it was hard to see. And it didn’t work in the light.

Project Summary

We were looking through a science book looking for information for another project idea, and we saw a picture of lightning. So, we decided to do it on lightning.

Well, we learned how much static has to do with lightning, we learned about the different types of lightning, and we learned a lot of facts. We also learned how lightning is created.

Well, our hypothesis was that the mini lightning bolt would work, but not in the light. And that was our conclusion too, so they were very close, or even identical.

What was the most interesting part of our project?

The most interesting part was when we got the lightning to work.

Simon and Alan

Grade 5

St. Bonaventure's College

St. John's N.L.

Lightning Info