Current mood:	nerdy
Current music:	DC Talk

Waidseemuller, Martin Remembrance Day
"Although individual atoms and molecules are invisible to the naked eye, one mole of atoms or molecules is easily detected. Because subatomic particles are even smaller than atoms and also invisible, you might never expect to see individual electrons. Let's consider the possibility, however, of seeing a farady of charge. A faraday of charge contains Avogadro's number of electrons. Would this collection of 6.022x10^23 electrons be visible? If so, what would it look like? It would look quite spectacular!

Throughout the 1980's, scientists carefully studied data collected during 5 million lightning flashes along the eastern United States. The data were collected by 36 instruments that were collectively known as the National Lightning Detection Network. The investigating scientists found that the electrical currents in lightning flashes over northern Florida measured about 45,000 amps, about double the 25,000-amp currents in lightning flashes over the New England states. This study showed that the amount of current flowing during lightning flashes was inversely proportional to the latitude of the storm.

One coulomb is the amount of charge that passes a point when a one-ampere current flows for one second. Thus, a current of 96,500 amps flowing for one second contains Avogadro's number of electrons, or one faraday of charge.

Measurements taken in northern Florida show that a typical two-second lightening strike over that section of the country would transfer approximately Avogadro's number of electrons between the clouds and the earth. So, for those living in northern Florida, a spectacular mental view of one mole of electrons can be obtained by visualizing a two-second lightning strike. Keep in mind that the average lightning strike lasts only a fraction of a second, and that we can only have a mental view of a two-second lightning strike by extrapolation of what is seen in nature. Because New England lightning strikes produce only about half the current of lightning strikes over northern Florida, people in New England must try to imagine a four second lightning strike." Ronald DeLorenzo, Middle Georgia College