Question

During lightning strikes from a cloud to the ground, currents as high as 2.50×10^4 Amps can occur and last for about 40.0 microseconds . How much charge is transferred from the cloud to the earth during such a strike?

Answer 1

Answer:

1 C

Explanation:

The intensity of electric current is defined as

$I=\frac{q}{t}$

where

I is the current

q is the amount of charge transferred

t is the time interval during which the charge is transferred

For the lightning in this problem, we have

$I=2.50\cdot 10^4 A$ is the current

$t=40.0 \mu s = 40.0\cdot 10^{-6} s$ is the time interval

Solving the formula for q, we find the amount of charge transferred:

$q=I t = (2.50\cdot 10^4 A)(40.0\cdot 10^{-6}s)=1 C$