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Evidence of thunder being a chemical explosion of air

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2003

PETER GRANEAU ,
NEAL GRANEAU  and
GEORGE HATHAWAY
PETER GRANEAU
Affiliation:
205 Holden Wood Rd, Concord, MA 01742, USA
NEAL GRANEAU
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3PJ, UK (neal.graneau@eng.ox.ac.uk)
GEORGE HATHAWAY
Affiliation:
Hathaway Consulting Services, 180 Beverley St, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5T 148
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Abstract

In 1989, it was proved that thunder is not caused by the thermal expansion of the lightning channel. The present paper suggests that it is the result of an air explosion driven by the liberation of chemical bond energy from the N2 and O2 molecules. This has been confirmed by laboratory experiments with air arcs of lightning strength. These arcs are short pieces of lightning strokes and their formation is accompanied by thunder-like sonic booms.

Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 69 , Issue 3 , April 2003 , pp. 187 - 197
Copyright
2003 Cambridge University Press

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