Q 01/05

Roughly how hot does the air around a lightning flash get?

A) About 300 C

B) About 3,000 C

C) About 30,000 C

D) About 300,000 C

Answer · why

C) About 30,000 C

About 30,000 C: roughly five times hotter than the Sun's surface, hot enough to flash a tree's sap into steam that can blast off its bark.

Q 02/05

What causes thunder?

A) Clouds colliding with each other

B) Rain being vaporised in the cloud

C) Electrons hitting the ground

D) Air heated so fast it explodes outward

Answer · why

D) Air heated so fast it explodes outward

Air heated so fast it explodes outward: thunder rolls on because sound from different parts of the long lightning channel reaches you at slightly diff...

Q 03/05

In Greek myth, who gave Zeus his thunder and lightning after he freed them from imprisonment?

A) The Hundred-Handers

B) The Cyclopes

C) The Titans

D) The Gorgons

Answer · why

B) The Cyclopes

The Cyclopes: armed with the thunder and lightning they gave him, Zeus overpowered the Titans and went on to reign in heaven.

Q 04/05

Which kind of lightning is the most common, far outnumbering the familiar cloud-to-ground bolt?

A) Cloud-to-cloud

B) Intra-cloud

C) Ground-to-cloud

D) Cloud-to-air

Answer · why

B) Intra-cloud

Intra-cloud: even the bolts that do reach the ground start with a breakdown between charged regions inside the cloud.

Q 05/05

Cloud-to-ground lightning is started by what moving down from the cloud?

A) A stepped leader

B) A positive streamer

C) A cold downdraft

D) An anvil crawler

Answer · why

A) A stepped leader

A stepped leader: it zigzags downward in short, jerky steps and splits into branches as it goes, which is why a lightning bolt looks forked.