How many electron volts power the release of a large lightning bolt?
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ETpro (
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September 12th, 2010
The Large Hadron Collider has a maximum power of 7 trillion Electron Volts. How does that compare to the energy level of a large bolt of lightning released in nature?
I understand that you can’t draw conclusions about what each would be capable of doing simply by comparing their electron volt levels. THe LHC is arguably the most complex machine ever built by man, and includes a massive amount of hardware designed to harness the incredible power of 7 teV and do something quite interesting with that power. But still, I am curious about the energy level comparison. I tried a Google search and even when using boolean operators to exclude “car” and other keyword dragging me to corporate sites and advertising, most of what came up was about the Lightning car company and its 700hp Lightning GT EV.:Oh Google—how the mighty have fallen. Don’t be evil—unless there’s good money in it.
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15 Answers
Are electron volts the same as volts?
I’ve had this question before too and it causes me to appreciate the forces of nature. It must take millions of volts to create an arc from clouds thousands of feet in the air to earth, given the resistance of air.
I noticed you used the term “electron volts” instead of volts. Electron volts (which I do not deal with in my job) are a measurement of energy. Volts (which I am more familiar with) is the measurement of electrical potential (between the positive and negative wavelengths). These could be sine waves, square or others. Voltage is the same as pressure (if compared mechanically). Amps would be equal to volume.
Well here is your answer, natural lightning is alot weaker actually than the LHC (when comparing the energy level of eV). An average lightning strike is around 10,000 eV while the maximum (not the norm) is still well short at 30 million eV. The 7 trillion eV generated by the LHC is much bigger.
@cockswain No eV and V are not the same. @Jabe73 Explains the difference, and definitely gets a GA for figuring that out.
Not clearly enough for me. How are eV and joules different in terms of units of energy?
Listen buddy, I took a calculus test this morning, then drank 8 beers watching football. All I’m taking from that link is that an eV is a tiny percentage of a joule.
Why did you decide to ask that question in terms of eV vs just good ol’ regular volts or simply joules?
@cockswain The question would make no sense in Volts, and I didn’t feel like converting the eV value stated for the LHC into Joules.
Why not? It takes X voltage potential to arc a lightning bolt through the air. I don’t see the reason to put the question in a less commonly understood unit, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a good reason to. It just means I don’t understand why yet.
Maybe it’s because you want to know the energy units and not the voltage potential? Seem like two sides of the same coin to me.
It takes Joules or eVs of energy to do a given amount of work. It takes volts to establish an arc. They are not comparable.
It’s easiest to understand if you transfer it to hydraulics. You could have a tiny pipe with very high static pressure in it. Open it, and water would squirt out with enormous force. But squirt that water into one of the dynamos of the Grand Coulee Dam and it wouldn’t budge the turbine. Take a huge pipe with a substantial but much lower pressure in it, and open it into the dynamo, and the thing turns like crazy pouring out electrical energy.
Volts are like pressure
Amperes are like volume
It takes a sufficient combination of them to do any work.
Another example. The typical AAA battery provides 3 volts. Wire up 4 in series, and you have 12 volts. Hook it up to your car, and try to crank the starter with batteries you would use in a miniature electronic device. You wouldn’t even hear a sound from the starter motor. It takes Volt-Amps to crank the motor. It takes Joules or eVs to keep it cranking for a given amount of time. In hydraulic terms, Joules or eV equate to a pipe with pressure, volume and a timed amount of both remaining stable. Something like a pipe connected to Grand Coulee Dam, where the pressure is established by the water depth, the flow volume is established by the diameter of the pipe, and the time of sustained flow is established by the river constantly flowing into the reservoir and keeping the water level constant.
1 W equals to one joule of energy per second
Ah, I’ve got it now. It’s watts. I get everything else you’re saying, studied that last year.
@cockswain I don’t often druther flunk… er, fluther drunk. But I’m pretty buzzed now so glad I was able to make that understandable.
If you’re buzzed, I’m super impressed. I’m talking total bullshit on a thread about PDAs right now. Probably pissing people off. I should get out of here before I further tarnish my already flimsy reputation.
@cockswain Aw cummon. Stick around and give us all a laugh or two. :-)
Both of you are drunken fluthering? I tried that once and spelled nearly every word wrong and made a fool of myself in a serious forum.
I feel like I’m just walking around being an asshole now.
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