Today I Learned (TIL)

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TIL that A lightning bolt is five times hotter than the surface of the Sun. The charge carried by a bolt of lightning is so intense that it has a temperature of 30,000°C (54,000°F). (www.sciencefocus.com)

submitted 1 month ago by partybot@lemmy.ca to c/til@lemmy.ca

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[–] unmagical@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 month ago

If you put a single drop of boiling water in the palm of your hand you'll be fine. If you pour a cup of boiling water in the palm of your hand you might need to go to urgent care.

Lightning superheats the air around it, but not in a sustaining way. Given the speed of the discharge the heat of a strike isn't necessarily fatal.

There are indirect strikes where lightning hits near you and electricity flows back up through your body, but direct strikes can also be survived.