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How powerful is lightning?

Updated: 8/11/2023
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7y ago

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The volt is not a unit of measure of energy. It is a unit of electromotive force (analogous to pressure in a pipe) or of electric potential difference (analogous to a difference in height). Energy is measured in joules.

An average lightning bolt carries about 500 megajoules of energy and transfers a charge of about 5 Coulombs with a current of about 30 kiloamperes. The voltage involved is proportional to the length of the lightning bolt and so is different for each one.

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14y ago
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7y ago

The current in a lightning bolt is several million amperes, the voltage across the lightning bolt is several million volts.

The power in watts is the product of current and voltage.

For example assume that a specific lightning bolt had 5 million amperes at 5 million volts.

P = I * E = 5E6 amperes * 5E6 volts = 25E12 watts = 25 terawatts.

Note: individual lightning bolts vary widely!

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13y ago

It is equivalent to powering 150,000,000 light bulbs.

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