Well, some of you have waited a week to find out how well you fared on the Lightning Quiz. Drum roll, please. Here are the answers:
Header from samulli1. True. According to http://www.ucar.edu/, Florida and the Rocky Mountain region do receive the most lightning.
2. False. I always thought this was true, but most the sites on my source list debunk it. They say that although rubber doesn’t conduct electricity, you do conduct it -- and rubber doesn’t lend you much, if any, protection.
3. False. Because lightning can run along the ground, your chances of being shocked are greater if you’re lying on the ground.
4. False. Lightning likes tall objects. Trees are a favorite. If you have to hide under a tree, look for one that’s shorter than others around it. .
5. True. Lightning is approximately 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. True. Each flash of lightning may be three to four lightning strikes. This is why lightning appears to flicker.
7. True. When lightning shoots toward the ground, it opens up a channel in the air. Once the light leaves the channel, the air around it collapses, creating the sound of thunder.
8. True. When counting between the sighting of lightning and hearing of thunder, every five seconds equals one mile.
9. False. Apparently lightning can strike 10 miles away from the storm. Because light waves travel faster than sound, lightning can strike long before thunder is heard.
10. False. Lightning actually can -- and often does -- strike in the same place. In fact it can hit favored places multiple times in a storm.
11. True. Accordingtohttp://lighteningstorms.suite101.com, the Empire State Building is struck an average of 100 times per year. Thank goodness for its elaborate system of safeguards.
12. False. As long as you don’t touch the metal of your car, it should keep you almost as safe as being indoors, but that is due to the structure around you, not the rubber tires.
13. True. According to several of my sources, the average person actually does have a 1 in 600, 000 chance of being hit by lightning.
Disclaimer: Although I’ve tried to verify these facts by using multiple sources and cross-referencing them, I’m not an actual researcher and – as you might guess – I haven’t tested these facts in person.
Sources
http://www.ucar.edu/communications/infopack/lightning/kids.html
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/lightning1.htm
http://skydiary.com/kids/lightning.html
http://lighteningstorms.suite101.com/article.cfm/lightning_fact_and_fiction
http://feelingsandflowers.com/136/april-showers-bring-may-flowers-%E2%80%93-discussing-the-rhyme/
http://www.fema.gov/hazard/thunderstorm/index.shtm#2
http://www.fema.gov/kids/thfac.htm
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Very informative :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting ! We just had a thunderstorm yesterday with quite some impressive lightnings !
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks for all the lightening facts. I love thunderstorms! Happy Thursday!
ReplyDeleteThursday 13 - edition 3
Weekly Plans 4/13-4/20
What cool facts! My son will love them :)
ReplyDeleteVery neat - and educational! I'll have to share these with my girls.
ReplyDeleteGreat info, and timely for me. I'm working on a story that has a lightning storm. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have known many of those answers. But then again, I always just trust in my good luck in thunderstorms anyway. :-)
ReplyDeleteI think the counting thing is the only one I got right.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool TT! I have seen lightning travel across the floor before. Pretty wild!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite moment with lightening was watching it over the hills from a long way away in Texas. It was stunning!
ReplyDeleteI actually know people who've been struck by lightning. It's not something I'd like to experience, either.
ReplyDeleteHi, Kate, Gattina,
ReplyDeleteThanks. I tried to pick intriguing facts.
Daisy,
ReplyDeleteI love thunderstorms too.
Jill and Tracey,
ReplyDeleteMy kids helped me compile the lightning info. They'll be glad to know others like what we found.
Ella Drake,
ReplyDeleteI'd guessed you'd be writing.
Samulli,
ReplyDeleteI've had pretty good luck in thunderstorms too--so far. I'm hoping it continues.
Alice,
ReplyDeleteYeah, some of the lightning facts were tough and things I didn't know until I started researching them.
Auntie Q,
ReplyDeleteLightning across a floor? Cool, but scary.
Susan,
ReplyDeleteDo you really know people who have been hit by lightning? Interesting. I hope they are okay.
This was very interesting. Isn't lightning fascinating? Thanks for stopping by my blog. Happy TT!
ReplyDeleteLooking at #13... this means, according to my guestimate, you stand about a 75% (roughly) better chance of being struck by lightening then winning one-million dollars or more in a lottery. Kinda makes you think twice about buying a ticket, eh?
ReplyDeleteWow. That's impressive. Such thorough work.
ReplyDeleteLightening creeps me out - no question. Super scary. and I've known people who've survived it....
ReplyDeleteGood thing you haven't tested them ;-)
ReplyDeleteFullbodytransplant,
ReplyDeleteGosh, thanks.
On a limb with Claudia,
ReplyDeleteYeah, lightning can be both terrifying and dangerous.
DoubleDeckerBusGuy,
ReplyDeleteYep, buying a lottery ticket and thinking you could/might win is a little farfetched when you put it in those terms. Oh, well, happy TT, anyway.
Janet,
ReplyDeleteGrin. Thanks for stopping by.
Wow, good to know! I just moved from a place with few thunderstorms to a place with lots of them, and I find them fascinating. Great list!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. That's a lot of interesting facts about lightning. I've always been fascinated by storms and lightning but too afraid to come out of the basement to watch them lol.
ReplyDeleteScary that I have a better chance of getting struck by lightning than winning the jackpot.
ReplyDeleteI'm in Florida and appreciated all of this info! I am also going to share it with my children-they love learning cool stuff.(Thunderstorms lightning and hurricane shutters are cool-at least in my neck of the woods)
ReplyDelete'As you might guess – I haven’t tested these facts in person' - please don't!!
ReplyDeleteI love your selection of T13 header today - matches my feelings towards lightening - scar-ee! Having spent time in the Blue Ridge Mtns. I know very well that you'd better unplug your TV when a storm is brewing so the lightening doesn't zap through the wiring and short everything out.
ReplyDeleteI read a novel called The Lumiere Affair by Sara Voorhees and the opening is a scene where the main character, her mother, and her mother's fiance are struck by lightning and the lightning current passes from the first person's zipper to the other person's watch. It was a neat scene to read (I guess the author based it on a news report she'd read about lightning striking someone).
ReplyDeleteLissa,
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, Florida gets a lot of lightning strikes. Thanks for visiting.
Julia,
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'm going to take your advice.
The Bumbles,
ReplyDeleteI think you're right. Thanks for sharing.
All Rileyed Up,
ReplyDeleteThe Lumiere Affair? I will look for that book. Thanks.
Maggie and Praise Fiddler,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by the diner. Sometimes lightning scares me too, that's part of the attraction, I guess.
Ann Bruce,
ReplyDeleteYeah, hard to believe you have a greater chance of lightning striking you than you do in actually winning the lottery. Thanks for coming by and commenting.
thanks for coming to my blog and I love your picture of the lightening we had that last night and tornadoes :)
ReplyDelete