Does lightning melt ice?
It’s difficult to imagine that a bolt of lightning that heats the air three times hotter than the sun’s surface can spring from bits of ice. By counting the lightning flashes, the study found that lightning and ice do in deed go together in a number of environments, including coastal areas and over land and sea.
What if lightning struck ice?
As electrical fields pass through the ice crystals, they become polarized and align, generating energy that is discharged when lightning flashes—at times creating so much energy that a bolt can heat the air it passes through to 50,000°F.
Is lightning stronger than ice?
Fire is fire, ice is fire’s opposite due to being shinier and more crystalline than water or earth, and lightning is louder, glowier, and comes from the sky.
What ice is strongest?
New ice is usually much stronger than old ice. Direct freezing of still water makes stronger ice than that formed by melting snow, refrozen ice, or ice made by water bubbling up through cracks and freezing on the surface. Clear blue/black ice is stronger than milky white ice. Ice near the shore is weakest.
How much weight will 7 inches of ice hold?
Safe loads for clear and solid ice
| Thickness of Ice | Load or Activity | |
|---|---|---|
| in | cm | |
| 4 | 7.5 | Snowmobile or smaller ATV, groups of people walking in a single line |
| 7 | 17.5 | A small car |
| 8 | 20 | A 2 1/2 tons truck |
Is 2 inches of ice safe?
Ice is not considered safe to walk on until it is at least 4 inches thick. At 4” the ice is suitable for ice fishing, cross-country skiing and walking and can support about 200 pounds. At 5 inches of new clear ice should be enough to hold a single snowmobile or ATV or about 800 pounds.
