- #1
atommo
- 22
- 5
Let's say you are rubbing a balloon on your hair to make it charged. If you then discharge the balloon and rub it on your hair again (and repeat this process numerous times). Would your hair run out of electrons so eventually you would be unable to charge the balloon, or would your hair gain electrons from elsewhere before this point?
I was reading up on how thunderstorms make lightning and that the particles collide/separate out with different charges (top of the cloud becomes positive, bottom of cloud is negative). In this way, if all the lightning of a thunder cloud strikes the ground (and not the top of the cloud where all the positive particles are) [this is purely theoretical as it is highly unlikely that would actually happen] then the top remains positively charged. Would this in theory mean a thunder cloud could 'run out' of lightning (as the bottom particles couldn't gain more electrons)?
Sidenote: My understanding of thunderstorms is that ice particles become negatively charge while water particles become positively charged. They collide with each other because of the extreme winds in a storm cloud. The lighter water particles get blown upward by updrafts while the ice is heavier so stays lower down. This is how the negative/positive separation occurs. (Reference: How does lightning form?)
I was reading up on how thunderstorms make lightning and that the particles collide/separate out with different charges (top of the cloud becomes positive, bottom of cloud is negative). In this way, if all the lightning of a thunder cloud strikes the ground (and not the top of the cloud where all the positive particles are) [this is purely theoretical as it is highly unlikely that would actually happen] then the top remains positively charged. Would this in theory mean a thunder cloud could 'run out' of lightning (as the bottom particles couldn't gain more electrons)?
Sidenote: My understanding of thunderstorms is that ice particles become negatively charge while water particles become positively charged. They collide with each other because of the extreme winds in a storm cloud. The lighter water particles get blown upward by updrafts while the ice is heavier so stays lower down. This is how the negative/positive separation occurs. (Reference: How does lightning form?)