A thundercloud has an area A = 130.0 km 2 and is a height d = 1.6 km above the g
ID: 1527946 • Letter: A
Question
A thundercloud has an area A = 130.0 km2 and is a height d = 1.6 km above the ground. Treat the cloud and the ground as a parallel plate capacitor. Lightning strikes when the voltage between the cloud and the ground reaches V = 125.0 MV (megavolts). The lightning strike completely discharges the "capacitor" formed by the cloud and the ground.
a) How much charge is transferred by the lightning strike?
b) How much energy is dissipated by the lightning strike?
A thundercloud has an area A = 130.0 km2 and is a height d = 1.6 km above the ground. Treat the cloud and the ground as a parallel plate capacitor. Lightning strikes when the voltage between the cloud and the ground reaches V = 125.0 MV (megavolts). The lightning strike completely discharges the "capacitor" formed by the cloud and the ground.
a) How much charge is transferred by the lightning strike?
b) How much energy is dissipated by the lightning strike?
Explanation / Answer
C = Aeo / d
C = 130*(1000)^2 * 8.85*10^-12 / 1600
= 7.2*10^-7 F
a)Q = CV = 7.2*10^-7 *125*10^6
= 89.88 C
b) E = 0.5CV^2
= 0.5*(7.2*10^-7) * (125*10^6) ^2
= 5.625*10^9 J
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