The bottom of a thundercloud and the Earth\'s surface might be modeled as a char

Question

The bottom of a thundercloud and the Earth's surface might be modeled as a charged parallel plate capacitor. The base of the cloud, which is roughly parallel to the Earth's surface, serves as the negative plate and the region of Earth's surface under the cloud serves as the positive plate. The separation between the cloud base and the Earth's surface is small compared to the length of the cloud. (a) Find the capacitance for a thundercloud of base dimensions 5.1 km by 3.1 km located 550 m above the Earth's surface. (b) Find the energy stored in this capacitor if the charge magnitude is 17 C.

Explanation / Answer

C = e0 A/d= 8.85E-12* (5.1E3*3.1E3)/550=2.54E-7 E= Q^2/2C = 17^2/(2*2.54E-7)=5.69E8 J

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