Tag: Science
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Phase Transitions: Melting, Boiling, and Subliming
Substances can change phase — often because of a temperature change. At low temperatures, most substances are solid; as the temperature increases, they become liquid; at higher temperatures still, they become gaseous. The process of a solid becoming a liquid is called melting (an older term that you may see sometimes is fusion). The opposite process, a liquid…
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How Much Electricity Does a Lightning Bolt Contain?
Check out the previous article on Lightning. Did you know that a single lightning bolt unleashes five times more heat than the sun? That’s a lot of energy seeing that 40 minutes of sunlight contains enough energy to power all of Earth’s energy needs for an entire year. Or to put it more scientifically, the…
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What is Lightning?
What exactly is a lightning bolt or strike, how does it occur, and what are its effects? Even if you never personally experienced a lightning storm before, you most certainly would have seen it on television, online, or even in the movies. This is one of nature’s most spectacular and potentially deadly displays. A lightning…