This is not a static process, but the success of thunderstorm
electricity results from the kinetic ratio of two ongoing process.
One suspects that the rate of formation of free charge in the cloud,
caused by friction between water crystals pulling protons off of one,
exceeds the rate of free charge loss (that is, there is a relatively
long dielectric relaxation time (1))). Hence, a net build up.
1. MELCHER, J.R., "Continuum Electromechanics",
MIT Press, Cambridge, (1981).
t 02:28 AM 9/26/2009, you wrote:
There is, it's just overcome by the forces causing the separation of charge...
Understand that just as in a chemical battery, there is an active process keeping the charges separated, and it has to do with the turbulent columns of air moving vertically inside the cloud.
It's been about 19 yrs since my involvement with this topic as a grad student, but back then there were at least two competing hypotheses as to the microphysics of cloud electrification. Not sure if that has been resolved or not... but convective cumulus clouds are not the nice calm gentle-looking puffs of cotton that they appear to be!! They are quite turbulent inside with significant regions of vertical shear... If I remember correctly, the vertical structure of a cumulus cloud has a positive region at the bottom, a pancake region of mostly negative charges near to the freezing level (~mid-cloud), and a positive region near the top...
-Mark<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
From: Chris Zell [ mailto:chrisrz...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, September 25, 2009 8:28 PM
To: vortex-l@eskimo.com
Subject: [Vo]:Why No Repulsion?
I was wondering if anyone knew a thorough answer to the question: How can a charged thunderstorm exist? I've asked meterologists this question but no one has any answer.
How can a cloud carry any charge at all? Why doesn't the charge cause the cloud to instantly dissipate? If we can demonstrate electrostatic precipitation with a small cloud chamber, how can any thunderstorm exist at all?
Another mystery: How can an electron cloud exist in a vacuum tube? How can it hold itself together?
It just seems to me that there are exceptions to the idea that like charges always repel - a notion that might guide us to free energy.
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