Module 3
1. Module 3
1.22. Page 6
Module 3—Electrical Phenomena
Lesson Summary
At the start of this lesson you were asked some essential questions:
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How much charge is transferred in a lightning strike, and how is this amount of charge measured?
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How can Coulomb’s law be applied to predict the net force acting on one point charge due to the presence of other point charges? How does this sort of analysis relate to the symmetry found in crystals?
In this lesson you’ve learned more about the enormous amounts of charge that a lightning strike can deliver between cloud and Earth. Although a strike of 1 C is typical, it is not unheard of for a single strike to deliver more than 30 C of charge. The high temperatures associated with this phenomenon can turn ordinary sand into crystals of silica glass and initiate wildfires.
Coulomb’s law can be used to calculate the net force on one point charge due to other point charges. The solutions to these sorts of problems require you to consider the vector nature of the electrostatic forces. The shapes of crystals are a consequence of charged particles aligning themselves so that the electrostatic forces are balanced.
In the next lesson you will use Coulomb’s law to explain electric fields and electrical phenomena.