Question

A large lightning bolt is observed to have a 19500 A current and move 36 C of charge. What was its duration?

Answer 1

Answer:

Its duration is 1.85*10⁻³ s or 1.85 ms

Explanation:

The intensity of electric current I is defined as the amount of electric charge Q (measured in Coulombs) that passes through a section of a conductor in each unit of time. The letter I is used to name the Intensity and its unit is the Ampere (A).

The intensity of electric current is expressed as:

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

where:

I: Intensity expressed in Amps (A)

Q: Electric charge expressed in Coulombs (C)

t: Time expressed in seconds (s)

Being:

• I= 19500 A
• Q=36 C
• t=?

Replacing:

$19500 A=\frac{36 C}{t}$

Solving:

19500 A*t= 36 C

$t=\frac{36 C}{19500 A}$

t= 1.85*10⁻³ s= 1.85 ms (being 1 s= 1,000 ms)

Its duration is 1.85*10⁻³ s or 1.85 ms