What would be the total energy of lightning storm over the history of the Earth?

Is this right?

The average lightning strike has around 10000 Amps at 100 million volts.

44 strikes every second, 3,000,000 flashes every day.

1,400,000,000 strikes every year multiplied by the age of Earth at 4.5 billion years

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 100 volts at 10,000 amps.

Would the equation look something like that?

Is there an energy figure for 100 volt at 10,000 amps?

I’m looking for a way to estimate the total energy produced by lightning since the beginning of the Earth.

Tau.Neutrino said:

What would be the total energy of lightning storm over the history of the Earth?

Is this right?

The average lightning strike has around 10000 Amps at 100 million volts.

44 strikes every second, 3,000,000 flashes every day.

1,400,000,000 strikes every year multiplied by the age of Earth at 4.5 billion years

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 100 volts at 10,000 amps.

Would the equation look something like that?

Is there an energy figure for 100 volt at 10,000 amps?

I’m looking for a way to estimate the total energy produced by lightning since the beginning of the Earth.

Volts x amps = Watts, that has units of energy/time.

You need to multiply by the duration of each lightning strike to get total energy.

The Rev Dodgson said:

Volts x amps = Watts, that has units of energy/time.

A powerful equation, that.

sibeen said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Volts x amps = Watts, that has units of energy/time.

A powerful equation, that.

Maybe so, but without time it is totally devoid of energy.

Tau.Neutrino said:

What would be the total energy of lightning storm over the history of the Earth?

Is this right?

The average lightning strike has around 10000 Amps at 100 million volts.

44 strikes every second, 3,000,000 flashes every day.

1,400,000,000 strikes every year multiplied by the age of Earth at 4.5 billion years

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 100 volts at 10,000 amps.

Would the equation look something like that?

Is there an energy figure for 100 volt at 10,000 amps?

I’m looking for a way to estimate the total energy produced by lightning since the beginning of the Earth.

Why?

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

What would be the total energy of lightning storm over the history of the Earth?

Is this right?

The average lightning strike has around 10000 Amps at 100 million volts.

44 strikes every second, 3,000,000 flashes every day.

1,400,000,000 strikes every year multiplied by the age of Earth at 4.5 billion years

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 100 volts at 10,000 amps.

Would the equation look something like that?

Is there an energy figure for 100 volt at 10,000 amps?

I’m looking for a way to estimate the total energy produced by lightning since the beginning of the Earth.

Volts x amps = Watts, that has units of energy/time.

You need to multiply by the duration of each lightning strike to get total energy.

ok

An average duration of time for a stroke of lightning is about 30 microseconds.

100 volts x 10,000 amps
100 × 10,000 = 1,000,000 watts over 30 microseconds

buffy said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

What would be the total energy of lightning storm over the history of the Earth?

Is this right?

The average lightning strike has around 10000 Amps at 100 million volts.

44 strikes every second, 3,000,000 flashes every day.

1,400,000,000 strikes every year multiplied by the age of Earth at 4.5 billion years

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 100 volts at 10,000 amps.

Would the equation look something like that?

Is there an energy figure for 100 volt at 10,000 amps?

I’m looking for a way to estimate the total energy produced by lightning since the beginning of the Earth.

Why?

New mind map

which will have a free public license

Tau.Neutrino said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

What would be the total energy of lightning storm over the history of the Earth?

Is this right?

The average lightning strike has around 10000 Amps at 100 million volts.

44 strikes every second, 3,000,000 flashes every day.

1,400,000,000 strikes every year multiplied by the age of Earth at 4.5 billion years

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 100 volts at 10,000 amps.

Would the equation look something like that?

Is there an energy figure for 100 volt at 10,000 amps?

I’m looking for a way to estimate the total energy produced by lightning since the beginning of the Earth.

Volts x amps = Watts, that has units of energy/time.

You need to multiply by the duration of each lightning strike to get total energy.

ok

An average duration of time for a stroke of lightning is about 30 microseconds.

100 volts x 10,000 amps
100 × 10,000 = 1,000,000 watts over 30 microseconds

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 1,000,000 watts over 30 seconds

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 30,000,000

= 1.90806e+26

Is that about right?

Tau.Neutrino said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 1,000,000 watts over 30 seconds

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 30,000,000

= 1.90806e+26

Is that about right?

About 1 million x too high (assuming your 30 microsec/strike is right).

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 1,000,000 watts over 30 seconds

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 30,000,000

= 1.90806e+26

Is that about right?

About 1 million x too high (assuming your 30 microsec/strike is right).

I’m not sure where I went wrong.

Tau.Neutrino said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 1,000,000 watts over 30 seconds

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 30,000,000

= 1.90806e+26

Is that about right?

About 1 million x too high (assuming your 30 microsec/strike is right).

I’m not sure where I went wrong.

You changed microseconds to seconds.

10 Interesting Facts about Lightning

Massive voltages in thunderclouds can slow down subatomic particles

The electric potentials that build up in thunderclouds can exceed 1.3 billion volts, about 10 times the voltages previously measured,

more..

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

About 1 million x too high (assuming your 30 microsec/strike is right).

I’m not sure where I went wrong.

You changed microseconds to seconds.

ok

Tau.Neutrino said:

10 Interesting Facts about Lightning

Massive voltages in thunderclouds can slow down subatomic particles

The electric potentials that build up in thunderclouds can exceed 1.3 billion volts, about 10 times the voltages previously measured,

more..

Makes Mr Van der Graaf’s generator look a bit ordinary.

Tau.Neutrino said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

I’m not sure where I went wrong.

You changed microseconds to seconds.

ok

And you need to recalculate for megajoules or kilowatt hours.

one site is saying one billion another site is saying 2 million while another site is saying 1 million

while yet another site is saying An average instance of lightning lasts about a quarter of a second and consists of 3-4 strikes

Each bolt can contain up to one billion volts of electricity.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/lightning/

The electricity in a single bolt can reach 200 million volts.
https://curiosity.com/topics/how-big-is-a-lightning-bolt/

a million volts
https://churchillsc.co.uk/news/10-interesting-facts-lightning/

Scratches head

Ill pursue more accurate figures for length of time

and work out the 30 microseconds bit when I have them

Tau.Neutrino said:

one site is saying one billion another site is saying 2 million while another site is saying 1 million

while yet another site is saying An average instance of lightning lasts about a quarter of a second and consists of 3-4 strikes

Each bolt can contain up to one billion volts of electricity.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/lightning/

The electricity in a single bolt can reach 200 million volts.
https://curiosity.com/topics/how-big-is-a-lightning-bolt/

a million volts
https://churchillsc.co.uk/news/10-interesting-facts-lightning/

Scratches head

Ill pursue more accurate figures for length of time

and work out the 30 microseconds bit when I have them

You need the average power (V x A) over whatever strike duration you end up with. This will be much less than the peak.

https://photonselectrons.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/energy-in-a-lightning-strike/

According to some online sources an average lightning strike has an energy of 0.5 to 5 Giga Joules . This energy of course, is released for time in the order of microseconds and capturing it is difficult and not the scope of this post

The Rev Dodgson said:

https://photonselectrons.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/energy-in-a-lightning-strike/

According to some online sources an average lightning strike has an energy of 0.5 to 5 Giga Joules . This energy of course, is released for time in the order of microseconds and capturing it is difficult and not the scope of this post

Thanks

Wikipedia says 0.2 second duration
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning

On Earth, the lightning frequency is approximately 44 (± 5) times per second, or nearly 1.4 billion flashes per year and the average duration is 0.2 seconds made up from a number of much shorter flashes (strokes) of around 60 to 70 microseconds.

while

http://www.public.asu.edu/~gbadams/lightning/lightning.html
An average duration of time for a stroke of lightning is about 30 microseconds.

Tau.Neutrino said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

https://photonselectrons.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/energy-in-a-lightning-strike/

According to some online sources an average lightning strike has an energy of 0.5 to 5 Giga Joules . This energy of course, is released for time in the order of microseconds and capturing it is difficult and not the scope of this post

Thanks

from
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-are-using-fossils-to-work-out-how-much-energy-is-in-a-lightning-strikes?limitstart=1

Calculating from the fulgurites

It takes a specific amount of energy to vaporise sand into gas. First the sand has to be heated to around 1700°C, about the temperature of molten lava.

At this temperature, the sand melts. The molten sand then has to heat to just shy of 3000°C, when it vaporises. It takes about 15 megajoules of energy to heat and vaporise a kilogram of sand.

That’s about the amount of energy the average U.S. household consumes in six hours, or the kinetic energy an average car would have if it were going 300 miles per hour.

The largest fulgurite found during recovery at the sand mine. Matt PasekThe largest fulgurite found during recovery at the sand mine. Image: Matt Pasek

After measuring our fulgurites, we determined that on average, the energy required to form these rocks was at least about one megajoule per meter of fulgurite formed. We calculated the energy per meter since, again in most cases, the fulgurites we had collected were broken.

So based on our calculations, how close does Hollywood come, with estimates like in Back to the Future of 1.21 gigawatts of power in lightning?

Power is energy per time, and our measurements of fulgurites suggest that megajoules of energy make rock in thousandths to millionths of seconds. So a gigawatt is actually on the low side – lightning power may be a thousand times that, reaching into the terawatts, though the average is probably tens of gigawatts.

Tau.Neutrino said:

What would be the total energy of lightning storm over the history of the Earth?

Is this right?

The average lightning strike has around 10000 Amps at 100 million volts.

44 strikes every second, 3,000,000 flashes every day.

1,400,000,000 strikes every year multiplied by the age of Earth at 4.5 billion years

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 100 volts at 10,000 amps.

Would the equation look something like that?

Is there an energy figure for 100 volt at 10,000 amps?

I’m looking for a way to estimate the total energy produced by lightning since the beginning of the Earth.

Didn’t we have a thread about this recently?

https://tokyo3.org/forums/holiday/topics/10956/

“Thunderstorm with eye-popping 720GJ of energy”.

“The researchers showed that they could replicate their muon measurements if the peak potential of the storm was about 1.3GV (yes, that’s 1.3 billion volts). These potentials are also sufficient to explain previously unexplained gamma-ray flashes from thunderstorms. By contrast, weather-balloon measurements have never measured a static potential higher than 130MV, or 10 times weaker than that.”

mollwollfumble said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

What would be the total energy of lightning storm over the history of the Earth?

Is this right?

The average lightning strike has around 10000 Amps at 100 million volts.

44 strikes every second, 3,000,000 flashes every day.

1,400,000,000 strikes every year multiplied by the age of Earth at 4.5 billion years

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 100 volts at 10,000 amps.

Would the equation look something like that?

Is there an energy figure for 100 volt at 10,000 amps?

I’m looking for a way to estimate the total energy produced by lightning since the beginning of the Earth.

Didn’t we have a thread about this recently?

https://tokyo3.org/forums/holiday/topics/10956/

“Thunderstorm with eye-popping 720GJ of energy”.

“The researchers showed that they could replicate their muon measurements if the peak potential of the storm was about 1.3GV (yes, that’s 1.3 billion volts). These potentials are also sufficient to explain previously unexplained gamma-ray flashes from thunderstorms. By contrast, weather-balloon measurements have never measured a static potential higher than 130MV, or 10 times weaker than that.”

Didn’t we have a thread about this recently?

Yes, but im after the total estimate of energy from 1.4 billion lightning strikes a year over the age of the earth 4.5 billion years

some issues have popped up

duration of each strike accurate duration times

accurate electrical properties

expressing total watts in joules

some sites are saying The duration of each lightning bolt can vary, but typically average about 30 microseconds.

http://www.weatherimagery.com/blog/lightning-facts/

An average duration of time for a stroke of lightning is about 30 microseconds.
http://www.public.asu.edu/~gbadams/lightning/lightning.html

On Earth, the lightning frequency is approximately 44 (± 5) times per second, or nearly 1.4 billion flashes per year and the average duration is 0.2 seconds made up from a number of much shorter flashes (strokes) of around 60 to 70 microseconds.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning

Tau.Neutrino said:

expressing total watts in joules

I’ll wait………………………………………………………..

https://www.windpowerengineering.com/business-news-projects/how-much-power-in-a-bolt-of-lightning/
lightning bolts carry from 5 kA to 200 kA and voltages vary from 40 kV to 120 kV.

https://ebrary.net/5778/education/bright_lightning
10 and 100 million volts of electricity. An average lightning stroke has 30,000 amperes

https://www.quora.com/How-powerful-is-a-lightning-bolt
lightning bold expends around 500 million joules of energy in about 30 microseconds.
The power of a lightning bolt is about 16 terawatts during those 30 millionths of a second. That is about 20 billion horsepower.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-voltage-and-amperage-of-an-average-lightning-bolt
A typical lightning bolt contains 1 billion volts and contains between 10,000 to 200,000 amperes of current

sibeen said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

expressing total watts in joules

I’ll wait………………………………………………………..

In case you didn’t get the message, that’s like saying: expressing total speed in km.

from Ian And you need to recalculate for megajoules or kilowatt hours.

from The Rev Dodgson And you need to recalculate for megajoules or kilowatt hours.

An average bolt of lightning, striking from cloud to ground, contains roughly one billion (1,000,000,000) joules of energy.
https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2012/05/could-we-harness-lightning-as-an-energy-source.html

An average bolt of negative lightning carries an electric current of 30,000 amperes (30 kA), and transfers 15 coulombs of electric charge and 500 megajoules of energy. Large bolts of negative lightning can carry up to 120 kA and 350 coulombs.
https://www.quora.com/How-powerful-is-a-lightning-bolt

Each bolt can contain up to one billion volts of electricity. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/lightning/

How many volts are in a lightning strike?
https://www.windpowerengineering.com/business-news-projects/how-much-power-in-a-bolt-of-lightning/

The Rev Dodgson said:

sibeen said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

expressing total watts in joules

I’ll wait………………………………………………………..

In case you didn’t get the message, that’s like saying: expressing total speed in km.

ok

Ill settle for a billion watts at 30 microseconds

the equation so far

Lightning hits a year by age of Earth

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 1,000, 000,000 watts over 30 microseconds in megajoules

Am I heading in the right direction..

Tau.Neutrino said:

Ill settle for a billion watts over the whole 30 microseconds time frame

the equation so far

Lightning hits a year by age of Earth

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 1,000, 000,000 watts
Am I heading in the right direction..

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 1,000, 000,000 watts

= 6.3602e+27

then convert that figure to megajoules?

1 Mega Watt hour = 3600 Mega Joules

Tau.Neutrino said:

Ill settle for a billion watts at 30 microseconds

the equation so far

Lightning hits a year by age of Earth

1,400,000,000 * 4,543,000,000 = 6.3602e+18 multiplied by 1,000, 000,000 watts over 30 microseconds in megajoules

Am I heading in the right direction..

Why not use the sources that give the energy in joules to start with?

So has this been dealt with?

dv said:

So has this been dealt with?

not yet

1,000, 000,000 watts, a billion watts = 1 gigawatt 1 gigawatt = 1000 megawatts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt

https://www.aqua-calc.com/convert/power/gigawatt-to-megajoule-per-hour

! gigawatt = 0.360000000 × 10 ⁷, mega-joule per hour

energy dissipated/converted by electrical discharge is unlikely to be able to be calculated, and there are to the wind forces, or air circulation forces.

the condensative aspects of suspended moisture are also energy conversion. Like rain from clouds.

transition said:

energy dissipated/converted by electrical discharge is unlikely to be able to be calculated, and there are to the wind forces, or air circulation forces.

the condensative aspects of suspended moisture are also energy conversion. Like rain from clouds.

…are to the wind

are too

1,000,000,000 (watts) * 1,400,000,000 (hits per year) * 4,543,000,000 (age of earth) = 6.3602e+27

Tau.Neutrino said:

1,000,000,000 (watts) * 1,400,000,000 (hits per year) * 4,543,000,000 (age of earth) = 6.3602e+27

a more interesting number might be the average flow of charge between earth and parts of its atmosphere, wiki has numbers for that as recall, so you can contemplate harnessing the big battery

good luck

transition said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

1,000,000,000 (watts) * 1,400,000,000 (hits per year) * 4,543,000,000 (age of earth) = 6.3602e+27

a more interesting number might be the average flow of charge between earth and parts of its atmosphere, wiki has numbers for that as recall, so you can contemplate harnessing the big battery

good luck

on that subject, it’d be interesting to know if that potential and current flow is structure forming, or tending.

i mean it’s part of the system of banked up energy, so probably is a transformative force.

Tau.Neutrino said:

dv said:

So has this been dealt with?

not yet

1,000, 000,000 watts, a billion watts = 1 gigawatt 1 gigawatt = 1000 megawatts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt

https://www.aqua-calc.com/convert/power/gigawatt-to-megajoule-per-hour

! gigawatt = 0.360000000 × 10 ⁷, mega-joule per hour

1,000,000,000 (watts) * 1,400,000,000 (hits per year) * 4,543,000,000 (age of earth) = 6.3602e+27

! gigawatt = 0.360000000 × 10 ⁷, mega-joule per hour

I terrawatt = 36.00 × 10 ¹⁰, mega-joule per hour

Tau.Neutrino said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

dv said:

So has this been dealt with?

not yet

1,000, 000,000 watts, a billion watts = 1 gigawatt 1 gigawatt = 1000 megawatts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt

https://www.aqua-calc.com/convert/power/gigawatt-to-megajoule-per-hour

! gigawatt = 0.360000000 × 10 ⁷, mega-joule per hour

1,000,000,000 (watts) * 1,400,000,000 (hits per year) * 4,543,000,000 (age of earth) = 6.3602e+27

! gigawatt = 0.360000000 × 10 ⁷, mega-joule per hour

I terrawatt = 36.00 × 10 ¹⁰, mega-joule per hour

I terrawatt = 36.00 × 10 ¹⁰, mega-joule per hour
https://www.aqua-calc.com/convert/power/terawatt-to-megajoule-per-hour

Would lighting strikes occurrence over the age of the Earth vary greatly depending on the age of the planet.

Cymek said:

Would lighting strikes occurrence over the age of the Earth vary greatly depending on the age of the planet.

I was wondering about that, perhaps maybe more intense in the past considering volcano lightning

like volcano lightning, prehistorical earth may have lighting all over its surface?

lots of electrical imbalances as particles would have been thick in the air

1,000,000,000 (watts) * 1,400,000,000 (hits per year) * 4,543,000,000 (age of earth) = 6.3602e+27

Find the value in terrawatts then convert that to mega joules

I terrawatt = 36.00 × 10 10, mega-joule per hour

https://www.aqua-calc.com/convert/power/terawatt-to-megajoule-per-hour

Tau.Neutrino said:

Cymek said:

Would lighting strikes occurrence over the age of the Earth vary greatly depending on the age of the planet.

I was wondering about that, perhaps maybe more intense in the past considering volcano lightning

like volcano lightning, prehistorical earth may have lighting all over its surface?

lots of electrical imbalances as particles would have been thick in the air

I was thinking that as well

Tau.Neutrino said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

not yet

1,000, 000,000 watts, a billion watts = 1 gigawatt 1 gigawatt = 1000 megawatts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt

https://www.aqua-calc.com/convert/power/gigawatt-to-megajoule-per-hour

! gigawatt = 0.360000000 × 10 ⁷, mega-joule per hour

1,000,000,000 (watts) * 1,400,000,000 (hits per year) * 4,543,000,000 (age of earth) = 6.3602e+27

! gigawatt = 0.360000000 × 10 ⁷, mega-joule per hour

I terrawatt = 36.00 × 10 ¹⁰, mega-joule per hour

I terrawatt = 36.00 × 10 ¹⁰, mega-joule per hour
https://www.aqua-calc.com/convert/power/terawatt-to-megajoule-per-hour

Watt? Forget watts..

> What would be the total energy of lightning storm over the history of the Earth?

1 Joule (J) is the MKS unit of energy, equal to the force of one Newton acting through one meter. 1 Watt is the power from a current of 1 Ampere flowing through 1 Volt. 1 kilowatt-hour is the energy of one kilowatt power flowing for one hour. (E = P t).

Why not just use the figure for an average bolt of lightning, striking from cloud to ground, containing roughly one gigajoule of energy?

I wonder if lightning capture is a viable energy source, could you store it or redirect it.

Cymek said:

I wonder if lightning capture is a viable energy source, could you store it or redirect it.

Empire state building gets hit a lot, that would be a good place to start.

Storing in it batteries, supercapacitors or some other storage system, might get a few weeks of power?

• I wonder if lightning capture is a viable energy source, could you store it or redirect it.

Be difficult to capture it as lightning, I would imagine. Might be easier to capture it before it becomes lightning i.e. capture the static. I don’t know if it is possible to do it but it would be easier to handle…

Ian said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

1,000,000,000 (watts) * 1,400,000,000 (hits per year) * 4,543,000,000 (age of earth) = 6.3602e+27

! gigawatt = 0.360000000 × 10 ⁷, mega-joule per hour

I terrawatt = 36.00 × 10 ¹⁰, mega-joule per hour

I terrawatt = 36.00 × 10 ¹⁰, mega-joule per hour
https://www.aqua-calc.com/convert/power/terawatt-to-megajoule-per-hour

Watt? Forget watts..

> What would be the total energy of lightning storm over the history of the Earth?

1 Joule (J) is the MKS unit of energy, equal to the force of one Newton acting through one meter. 1 Watt is the power from a current of 1 Ampere flowing through 1 Volt. 1 kilowatt-hour is the energy of one kilowatt power flowing for one hour. (E = P t).

Why not just use the figure for an average bolt of lightning, striking from cloud to ground, containing roughly one gigajoule of energy?

ok, Ill try that.

not all discharge turns to plasma, so some amount is electron or ion flow, but just what portion is as or turns to plasma, or plasma channel (lightning-proper) I have no idea.

point being lightning may be a smaller portion.