Thunder, Nature's subwoofer at work

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kap'n krunch

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Living in New Orleans, you get your share of thunderstorms and there was a great one 2 days ago.

I love a good storm and am always thrilled by Thunder (I learned from an early age to not be afraid of lightning cause , if it actually hits you, you won't feel a thing!..unless you are that park ranger who was hit 7 times and ended up killing himself; hell , if lightning won't take you out I don't know what will!!!)..RIP Mr Sullivan...

Besides, Thunder is Nature's way to get rid of negative energy...

I was wondering if distortion was actually occurring in Nature when you hear very loud Thunder but I am guessing that it's you ear that can't take the volume and the low frequencies, started looking into it and wound up reading this very interesting scientific page; states that lightning itself is 1 to 2 inches wide (!!??!!??) among many other interesting details...
 
Living in New Orleans, you get your share of thunderstorms and there was a great one 2 days ago.

I love a good storm and am always thrilled by Thunder (I learned from an early age to not be afraid of lightning cause , if it actually hits you, you won't feel a thing!..unless you are that park ranger who was hit 7 times and ended up killing himself; hell , if lightning won't take you out I don't know what will!!!)..RIP Mr Sullivan...

Besides, Thunder is Nature's way to get rid of negative energy...

I was wondering if distortion was actually occurring in Nature when you hear very loud Thunder but I am guessing that it's you ear that can't take the volume and the low frequencies, started looking into it and wound up reading this very interesting scientific page; states that lightning itself is 1 to 2 inches wide (!!??!!??) among many other interesting details...
Kap - I know you previously mentioned you were born in Puerto Rico. Although I wasn’t born there, I’m Puerto Rican, and have experienced some fabulous thunder storms there as I’m sure you have! How do the PR thunder strikes compare to those in the Big Easy?
 
lightningmap.jpg



We get both boom and rumble. ... take that, Sensurround!!
 
Kap - I know you previously mentioned you were born in Puerto Rico. Although I wasn’t born there, I’m Puerto Rican, and have experienced some fabulous thunder storms there as I’m sure you have! How do the PR thunder strikes compare to those in the Big Easy?
Un Boricua!!!! (por lo menos de adopcion ;) )
Basically the same since we are still in Subtropical weather and next to a body of water (i grew up on the beach)...ahh, but we have no Coquies here!!!! ..co-QUI!!!! Saludos...
 
Un Boricua!!!! (por lo menos de adopcion ;) )
Basically the same since we are still in Subtropical weather and next to a body of water (i grew up on the beach)...ahh, but we have no Coquies here!!!! ..co-QUI!!!! Saludos...
Soy Boricua, hermano!!!! Both my parents are Puerto Rican and I was born in the US because my dad was a US Army lifer. I have 4 brothers and one was born in Panama, one in Germany, one in Colorado (like me), and one in PR.
 
I learned from an early age to not be afraid of lightning cause , if it actually hits you, you won't feel a thing!..

I love lightning and thunder (see my avatar), and have studied them for decades. All joking aside, fear is your friend when it comes to lightning. Only one in ten people who have a direct encounter with lightning (there are five mechanisms of injury) is killed. So 90% survive, but half of those or more have SERIOUS lifelong problems. And there ain't gonna be a "race for the cure," because you can't be unstruck.

My recommendation is to enjoy lightning from inside a house or a car, windows closed in either case, and in the house maybe one to three feet away from the window if possible. Inside the house, you are not supposed to be in direct contact with any plumbing or service connected electronics. Also, a car with a cloth or non-metallic roof is not as safe as an all metal car or truck.

Here is a good video to keep in mind:



Are you sure you want to risk it?

PS, I have lightning arresters on my service panel, and I STILL unplug at the approach of a storm.
 
I was wondering if distortion was actually occurring in Nature when you hear very loud Thunder but I am guessing that it's you ear that can't take the volume and the low frequencies, started looking into it and wound up reading this very interesting scientific page; states that lightning itself is 1 to 2 inches wide (!!??!!??) among many other interesting details...

Distortion does occur in nature at very high amplitudes. Sound is (amongst other) a pressure wave traveling to your ears. The low pressure is limited to the fact that pressure can not be less than zero, the high pressure half of the soundwave is unlimited. So a perfect sine wave cannot occur when it is very loud.
 
I love lightning and thunder (see my avatar), and have studied them for decades. All joking aside, fear is your friend when it comes to lightning. Only one in ten people who have a direct encounter with lightning (there are five mechanisms of injury) is killed. So 90% survive, but half of those or more have SERIOUS lifelong problems. And there ain't gonna be a "race for the cure," because you can't be unstruck.

My recommendation is to enjoy lightning from inside a house or a car, windows closed in either case, and in the house maybe one to three feet away from the window if possible. Inside the house, you are not supposed to be in direct contact with any plumbing or service connected electronics. Also, a car with a cloth or non-metallic roof is not as safe as an all metal car or truck.

Here is a good video to keep in mind:



Are you sure you want to risk it?

PS, I have lightning arresters on my service panel, and I STILL unplug at the approach of a storm.

Oh, I would not STAY OUT nor actually look for it, and of course , take shelter!!!
Thanks for the awesome video!
 
Distortion does occur in nature at very high amplitudes. Sound is (amongst other) a pressure wave traveling to your ears. The low pressure is limited to the fact that pressure can not be less than zero, the high pressure half of the soundwave is unlimited. So a perfect sine wave cannot occur when it is very loud.
Thanks for your statement although , please bear with me;
"The low pressure is limited to the fact that pressure can not be less than zero, the high pressure half of the soundwave is unlimited. "

I think this is what it means:
The low pressure is limited to the fact that the lower pressure half of the soundwave is limited because it can not be less than zero and the upper half (high pressure half) is unlimited, so a perfect sinewave can not occur"
(Sorry if it sounds like Groucho and Chico on "A night at the Opera"..."the party of the first part!...")
 
Thanks for your statement although , please bear with me;
"The low pressure is limited to the fact that pressure can not be less than zero, the high pressure half of the soundwave is unlimited. "

I think this is what it means:
The low pressure is limited to the fact that the lower pressure half of the soundwave is limited because it can not be less than zero and the upper half (high pressure half) is unlimited, so a perfect sinewave can not occur"
(Sorry if it sounds like Groucho and Chico on "A night at the Opera"..."the party of the first part!...")
All right, all right. Als jij ook zo goed ben in mijn taal, heb je recht van spreken.
 
Distortion does occur in nature at very high amplitudes. Sound is (amongst other) a pressure wave traveling to your ears. The low pressure is limited to the fact that pressure can not be less than zero, the high pressure half of the soundwave is unlimited. So a perfect sine wave cannot occur when it is very loud.
I think you might be confusing relative and absolute pressure.
However, transmission of sound at very high volumes is indeed subject to distortion. This is due to the non-linear physical properties of a gas as it is heated. A powerful sound wave heats the medium through compression and rarefaction as it passes through it.
 
From what I remember from school is lightning uses up all oxygen creating a vacuum. The pressurized air surrounding where the bolt was quickly replaces the vacuum and you have thunder. Similar to clapping your hands but multiplied like a million butterfly wings.
 
From what I remember from school is lightning uses up all oxygen creating a vacuum. The pressurized air surrounding where the bolt was quickly replaces the vacuum and you have thunder. Similar to clapping your hands but multiplied like a million butterfly wings.

I used to believe that too, but it is not correct. Ionization of the air causes a breakdown of resistance, current passes through the air in the form of lightning, and heats the air to extreme temperatures. This causes a blast wave that propagates outward, like a blast wave from an explosion. Here is a video that illustrates propagation of a blast wave :



They can't get the same footage from lightning because it is too bright and tends to overload the camera at the critical moment. That and it is difficult to get slow motion footage at such close range in a lightning event because one never knows where it will strike.

Interestingly, there may be a parallel effect between the blast effect of thunder causing traumatic brain injury, and TBI seen in military personnel who are caught by an improvised explosive device (IED). There is very little budget for the study of lightning injury because it is so relatively infrequent, but the military has a great interest in injury from IED. I am hoping to someday find a medical scientist who is interested in exploring this hypothesis.
 
I used to believe that too, but it is not correct. Ionization of the air causes a breakdown of resistance, current passes through the air in the form of lightning, and heats the air to extreme temperatures. This causes a blast wave that propagates outward, like a blast wave from an explosion. Here is a video that illustrates propagation of a blast wave :



They can't get the same footage from lightning because it is too bright and tends to overload the camera at the critical moment. That and it is difficult to get slow motion footage at such close range in a lightning event because one never knows where it will strike.

Interestingly, there may be a parallel effect between the blast effect of thunder causing traumatic brain injury, and TBI seen in military personnel who are caught by an improvised explosive device (IED). There is very little budget for the study of lightning injury because it is so relatively infrequent, but the military has a great interest in injury from IED. I am hoping to someday find a medical scientist who is interested in exploring this hypothesis.

That makes sense to me. When I say school I'm referring to over 50 years ago. Doubt they knew much about ionization back then. It was a parochial school so science sorta took a back seat.
 
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