How to make lightning at home. Ball lightning - do it yourself. Experiment to create ball lightning
Experiment to create ball lightning.
We report the successful experimental creation of ball lightning in the open air. A description of this process was found in the recently published laboratory notebooks of N. Tesla for 1899. Photographic material is presented and a discussion of the experimental technique is carried out. Based on an analysis of B. M. Smirnov’s work on the airgel (fractal) model of ball lightning, it was concluded that his theoretical model provides a description consistent with the type of fireballs that Tesla created and which we observed.
Introduction. Exactly following Nikola Tesla's high-frequency technique, the description of which was found in his notes, in August 1988 we began to create electric fireballs in the air with a diameter of ~2 cm. Tesla's work was carried out 89 years earlier, in the summer of 1899 and, as follows from open literature, has never been replicated or verified. Although the creation of fireballs was repeated in the laboratory, recorded by a large number of photographs and videos, the physics hidden behind their formation and development was not clear enough to us at that time. Having a high-voltage, high-frequency technique for creating this phenomenon at will, we could not clearly explain the nature of the formation and evolution of fireballs obtained by this method.
Tesla's detailed, remarkable observations in 1899 put forward several hypotheses about the nature of fireballs, but we felt that more was needed to clearly understand the phenomenon than the ideas of physics of a century ago. Any progress in the technique of producing fireballs requires an understanding expressed in the language of the most modern physics. Despite the fact that we were well acquainted with the works of Kapitsa and a large number of publications on ball lightning by Western scientists over the past 150 years, we nevertheless did not take the opportunity to analyze the latest achievements of Soviet researchers.
Recent successes of Soviet scientists. In June of this year, we became aware of significant progress in creating the theory of ball lightning, the results of which were published in the Soviet scientific press. Much of the recent Soviet work contains as many unsatisfactory and strange abstract theorizing on ball lightning as the work appearing in Western scientific literature. However, among them there are a number of interesting publications which, we think, describe Tesla's method for creating ball lightning with reasonable certainty. We have placed them in the list of references under numbers. This progress was achieved primarily thanks to the efforts of B. M. Smirnov and his colleagues from the Institute of Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk. From the very beginning, Smirnov realized the futility of all models of ball lightning that did not include an internal source of chemical energy. He also clearly understood the role that aerosols, aerogels, filamentary structures, plasma chemistry and the combustion of dust particles could play. With the advent of the concept of a fractal and the physics of diffusion-limited aggregation, Smirnov was able from the late 70s to the mid-80s to strongly develop the airgel theoretical model, in which active substance ball lightning is an electrically charged structure consisting of intertwined submicron filaments, i.e., a porous fractal cluster with a large chemical capacity. Almost the entire frame of such an airgel structure is occupied by free pores.
The release of energy from a chemically charged fractal cluster can be described by a multi-stage combustion process. As an example of such a process, Smirnov proposes multi-stage combustion of a fractal cluster of charcoal dust in ozone absorbed by the cluster itself, as a model process in ball lightning:
where α and β are the rate constants of the slowest stages of the process depending on the temperature at which coal is saturated with ozone and, according to his calculations, the characteristic time values are quite long. The combustion of charcoal in adsorbed ozone is simultaneously an intense and slow process of heat release. The predicted temperatures and lifetimes are consistent with observations of ball lightning. In this model, the color and glow of ball lightning are created in a manner similar to how it occurs in pyrotechnics due to the presence of luminous components of the composition. This theoretical model of Smirnov is capable of satisfactorily explaining the various properties of ball lightning.
Fractal phenomena and the root cause of ball lightning. The Chemical History of the Candle has been a source of wonder and fascination ever since it was first discovered in the mid-19th century. Faraday gave the Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution. His famous talks are an excellent introduction to the basic principles of combustion and are available in modern editions. It was Faraday who pointed out the main role of soot and carbon particles in the glow of a flame.
Modern developments in cluster science have deepened our understanding of the formation of dust, soot, colloids and condensed aerosols. Studying the growth of fractals has provided a new look at the growth of soot when carbon particles are added in the process of chaotic coagulation.
Interesting in many respects, and perhaps even the beginning of a new direction linking fractals and smoke, was the publication of the results of a remarkable experimental study done by Forrest and Whitten. They observed ultrafine smoke particles (about 80 A in diameter) and found that the particles stick to each other and form chain aggregates. Their laboratory experiments showed that fractal structures actually form within a few tens of milliseconds after the thermal explosion of materials.
Forrest and Whitten's setup consisted of a tungsten filament electroplated with iron or zinc. The thread quickly heated up when a short high-current pulse passed through it, the deposited material evaporated from the thread and formed a dense gas (metal vapor), the spread of which into the surrounding atmosphere was limited by diffusion. The dense gas consisted of more or less homogeneous spherical particles. Hot particles moving rapidly from the heated filament stopped due to collisions in the environment and formed a spherical halo at a distance of about 1 cm from the filament. At this distance, the particles began to condense and stick together, forming aggregates like chains, which then settled on the electron microscope slide. Subsequent studies of the condensed phase showed that it has fractal properties. (Analyzing this line of research, it is necessary to note the early work of Beisher, who showed that magnesium oxide smoke in an arc discharge contains chain aggregates, while in smoke in the absence of an arc, ultrafine particles simply form a dense aerosol.)
Smirnov's profound insight was to realize that this fractal cluster could be invoked to explain the structure and properties of ball lightning. A stunning confirmation of the ideas of Smirnov and his colleagues are the words from his recent work: “We will proceed from the fact that ball lightning has the structure of a fractal cluster.” There is no doubt that Smirnov's in-depth research and analysis provide the best physical explanation of ball lightning available in modern science.
High-frequency installation for creating ball lightning. There are many works devoted to the description and analysis of Tesla's generator, starting with the classic work of Oberbeck, published in 1895. However, in our opinion, all of these descriptions are based on a flawed theoretical model and leave much to be desired from a technical point of view. (Thus, they treat the setup as a lumped circuit and overlook the fact that the current distribution at the resonator stage is a quarter-wave sine wave with I max (V min) at the bottom and I min (V max) at the top.) Until we We used Shelkunov’s concept of “averaged characteristic impedance” and did not apply the linear theory of slow wave propagation to Tesla’s resonators, we could not accurately predict the action of a high-voltage, high-frequency generator and, accordingly, create fireballs. Our model is quite reliable when used to analyze data from Tesla's laboratory notebooks for 1899.
The main part of Tesla's fireball setup consists of a quarter-wave helical slow-wave resonator located above a conducting, grounded plane. Our resonator is magnetically coupled to a high peak power (approximately 70 kW) spark discharge generator operating at 67 kHz. The actual average power delivered to the high-voltage electrode was on the order of 3.2 kW (this generated a 7.5-m RF discharge). The power Tesla used was, of course, 100 times more than what we consumed with our rather modest equipment.
Installation action. The spark discharge generator produced 800 pulses per second, and the spark duration was 100 μs. The secondary winding of the high-frequency resonator had a measured coherence time of 72 μs. This means that the induced incoherent polychromatic oscillations take 72 µs to create a standing wave and generate a high voltage at the top of the resonator:
Where S- deceleration coefficient of the spiral resonator. The Smith circuit can be used to conveniently demonstrate the operation of the high voltage section of the installation.
Tesla installations have several important advantages over other high-voltage devices (such as van de Graaf and Marx generators). Not only do they achieve high energy, but they also allow for intense cycling, i.e. high repetition rates and high average power work. According to Tesla's instructions, a short piece of thick copper wire or carbon electrode extends from the side of the high-voltage electrode. When said electrode is discharged, the RF resonator releases energy quickly, in a pulse. (Tesla noted in many places that the creation of fireballs requires the creation of "fast and powerful" discharges.) The burst of released energy appears in the form of a spherical ball or what may be a fractal "bubble". This method of creating fireballs is determined by the relaxation of vaporized metal or coal particles, and the resulting clusters are not different from those resulting from aggregation limited by Forrest and Whitten diffusion. Tesla's instructions for using a rubber-coated cable tip or copper wire to "facilitate the ignition of the spark" are helpful. We assume that diffusion-limited aggregation took place in either copper vapor or coal vapor (as a result of evaporation of either the wire or its insulation). As in the case of SiO 2, under such conditions, condensed ϹuО 2 can also form an airgel. The formation of the fractal ball is not much different from what Forrest and Whitten observed (except that it was charged by a high-voltage electrode). By the way, the old-style rubber insulation was covered with soot.
But, as Smirnov points out, the simple formation of a porous fractal cluster will not be a sufficient condition for the appearance of ball lightning with a lifetime greater than a few milliseconds. Fractal formation was obtained from soot in Faraday candles, but for the formation of ball lightning, which lives for several seconds or more, other components are also necessary. We emphasize that Tesla’s installation is a source of ozone and other chemically active particles. We believe that these, and perhaps other particles, are quickly absorbed by a charged porous fractal cluster. The plasma temperature in the discharge region where the structure is formed is sufficient to cause a multi-stage combustion process.
Experimental observations. Using the installation, the diagram of which is shown in Fig. 1, we observed a large number of fireballs with a diameter ranging from several millimeters to several centimeters. The fireballs' lifetimes typically lasted from half to several seconds, and their color varied from dark red to bright white. Some of the fireballs were accompanied by a loud sound as they disappeared, while others appeared and disappeared. 
Sometimes it was difficult to record the phenomenon on photographic film using the technology available to us. In some cases the video recording turned out to be excellent. The duration could be estimated from the frame rate of the video equipment. But for standard films, both the frame rate and shutter speed were too slow. However, the photographs often turned out to be adequate to the image. In a remarkable sequence of photographs, fireballs can be seen appearing on the opposite side of a window pane.
In the photo fig. 2 you can see how the fireball smoothly slides from right to left and up. (In fact, the fireball first formed and was then struck by the streamer. The result was an image of the fireball being penetrated by the streamer.)
The white fireball had a diameter of about 2 cm. The electrode was made of copper wire, and a shutter speed of 1/125 s was used when shooting.
The length of the streamer exceeded 1.5 m. Other luminous areas and bright points are faintly visible.
When taking a photo, fig. 3, many fireballs were visible to the naked eye, but only one of them was caught by the camera. You can see how it rises from left to right in relation to the central part of the streamer. Notice the bright and dark areas of the streamer. The diameter of the fireball was about 2 cm, and the length of the streamer, on the right, exceeded 2 m. A copper wire served as the electrode; a shutter speed of 1/125 s was used. In the photo fig. 4 there are two fireballs formed close to each other. Sliding to the right. they faced different streamers. A shutter speed of 1/4 sec was used.
In the photo fig. 5 shows five large fireballs (about 2 or 3 cm in diameter), several luminous points and a brightly glowing section of the streamer about 30 cm long. A shutter speed of 1/4 s was used. (The red glow in the lower left corner of the photo is due to intense heating at the base of the arc.)
In our laboratory experiments, fireballs typically formed near the high-voltage resonator and streaked outside the streamer either above or below it. This seems to satisfy the name "Kugelblitz" - ball lightning. 
Videos of fireball evolution indicate that fireballs originate near the electrode and are then struck by streamers. Initially they are the size of a sphere of 6 mm, which then begins to grow. It seems that the ball has frozen, floating in volume, and meanwhile the streamer goes out. Then a new streamer hits the floating ball and it gets bigger. We observed how six discharges hit one ball in succession, and it increased each time. A fireball was observed that grew from an initial 6 mm sphere into a fiery red globule with a diameter of 5 cm in a time of 1 s. Sometimes some balls with moving spots (like spots on the sun) were seen rotating. Some fireballs appear transparent next to the bolts piercing them. We observed several glowing formations that changed color over the course of evolution and eventually exploded as a supernova. Moreover, in accordance with the previously stated assumption, placing a wax candle on a high-voltage resonator enhances the appearance of fireballs.
Photo fig. 6 is enlarged to show the globular structure of a single large bright isolated electrical fireball. In reality, the fireball was approximately 1 cm in diameter. Fireballs have a spherical structure, which suggests that surface tension must play some role in the evolution of ball lightning. A slight but noticeable darkening of the limb and an almost solid image indicate that ball lightning is optically dense. The electrode was a wire wound on a wax candle; a shutter speed of 1/4 s was used.
Photo fig. 7 was made while filming the formation of a fireball near a high-voltage electrode. After sorting the frames on the display, an individual frame was re-photographed on the color monitor.
The sequence of events was quite remarkable. At first, the fireball appears to appear out of “nothing” (since it was not there in the previous frame). In the next frames, the streamer leaves and disappears, leaving the ball lightning slightly increased in size and hotter, as shown in the photograph in Fig. 7. (Watching streamers is also a fascinating activity - streamers often appear as if they are made of a bright liquid substance that is seen being injected and moving in their direction. This substance is apparently added to the substance of the ball lightning and increases its size.)
From the sequence of video recordings, it becomes clear that the picture can give the wrong impression, because the fireballs, together with the streamers, look like golf balls strung on a sword. In reality, the installation (which makes 800 interrupts per second) produces a very large number of discharges per second. These discharges hit the fireballs quite often during the exposure time and give photographs of the formation of ball lightning in the streamer. In reality, the streamers jump from ball lightning to ball lightning, flashing a blinding light. In infrared photographs, fireballs are much brighter than streamers. This means that they are significantly hotter than streamers.
Video photographs provide another opportunity to observe weak variations in the distribution of glow across the disk of ball lightning. In one particular case, ball lightning was actually surrounded by a luminous shell similar to the star M-52 (the rings of Nebula in the constellation Lyra). The amplification of the resulting signal reveals a large true glow of the spherical shell of ball lightning. In astrophysics, this only happens with particularly hot O and B type stars.
The photograph (Figure 8) can cause anxiety. The image contains a dozen large spherical globules in the same row and at different stages of development when they are hit by the same streamer. Fireballs, starting as red dwarfs, progress through states of varying colors and sizes to a giant blue-white stage. It appears that some will explode as supernovae, while others will cool as red giants. Shutter speed 1/4 sec. A charcoal pin is used instead of a rubber-coated copper wire to “light the spark” of Tesla. A high voltage electrode with a diameter of 30 cm is visible on the left. 
In our work, we photographically confirm the “passage of ball lightning through window glass” in our laboratory experiments. We also report alternative electrical devices to obtain the same results.
Conclusions. Analyzing the results obtained, we believe that, as in the Forrest and Whitten installation, in this case, high-current pulses emanating from the copper wire and charcoal electrodes on the high-voltage electrode can create fractal clumps that quickly adsorb ozone and other chemically active components from the near-electrode region. The electrically charged airgel structures formed exhibit the characteristic properties of ball lightning. This fractal nature of electrochemical ball lightning was first proposed and theoretically studied by the Soviet scientist B. M. Smirnov. There is no doubt about the similarity between these fireballs produced in a high-voltage generator and ball lightning occurring naturally in atmospheric electrical thunderstorms.
We also note that these results closely support Tesla's historical experiments to create ball lightning. There can now be no question about the reliability of his records of 1899 and the veracity of his observations of ball lightning.
Concluding remarks. Tesla had no ambivalence about the observation and laboratory creation of electric ball lightning. Describing the research of 1899 on ball lightning, he said: “I managed to determine the method of their formation and create them artificially.” Unfortunately, during his life he did not choose the way to familiarize the general scientific community with his experimental technique. We are lucky that he left behind such detailed and interesting documentation. Just before the closure of his laboratory in Colorado Springs, Tesla wrote in his diary: “The best study of this phenomenon can be made by continuing experiments with more powerful installations, which are substantially developed and will be constructed as soon as time and means allow me.” The reason for the recording was that he returned to New York, began building a large transmission station on Long Island, was pursued by creditors, and suffered financial bankruptcy before he could complete the equipment.
Time has passed, and now ball lightning can be carefully studied in a controlled laboratory environment. We think that the work that Tesla left unfinished can now be resumed. With the development of technology and concepts available to modern scientists, rapid progress in this direction is sure to be made.
The quotation at the beginning of the work is taken from Kapitza's talk, "Memories of Lord Rutherford," at a meeting of the Royal Society in 1966. Kapitza, who himself inspired much of the work on ball lightning, continues: "The main features of Rutherford's thinking were great independence and great courage." These qualities are the characteristics of all those who have contributed at least something to the forward movement of civilization. However, as Kapitsa pointed out, nowhere is this more critical than in scientific matters. Of course, these brave traits were also present in the life of Nikola Tesla, an experimental physicist, engineer and inventor.
It seems appropriate to us to finish the work with Tesla’s own thoughts, which came to him in the first hours of the 20th century. and written in his diary just a few days before leaving for New York from his laboratory in Colorado Springs, covered with snow and riddled with loneliness: “It is a fact that this phenomenon can now be artificially created, and it will not be difficult to learn more about its nature" ( N. Tesla, January 3, 1900).
Unfortunately for modern civilization, these remote research facilities on Rocky Mountain soil were closed forever in January 1900, and the electrical wonders performed within these walls remained a mystery until our generation.
You fly your ship through a cave, dodging enemy fire. However, pretty soon you realize that there are too many enemies and it looks like this is the end. In a desperate attempt to survive, you press the Button. Yes, on that same button. The one you prepared for a special occasion. Your ship charges up and fires deadly lightning bolts at your enemies, one after another, destroying the entire enemy fleet.
At least that's the plan.
But how exactly do you, as a game developer, render such an effect?
Generating lightning
As it turns out, generating lightning between two points can be a surprisingly simple task. It can be generated as follows (with a little randomness during generation). Below is an example of simple pseudo-code (this code, like everything in this article, refers to 2d lightning. Usually this is all you need. In 3d, just generate the lightning so that its offsets are relative to the camera plane. Or you can generate a full-fledged one lightning in all three dimensions - the choice is yours)SegmentList.Add(new Segment(startPoint, endPoint)); offsetAmount = maximumOffset; // maximum displacement of the top of the lightning for each iteration // (a certain number of iterations) for each segment in segmentList // We go through the list of segments that were at the beginning of the current iteration segmentList.Remove(segment); // This segment is no longer required midPoint = Average(startpoint, endPoint); // Shift midPoint by random variable in the direction of the perpendicular midPoint += Perpendicular(Normalize(endPoint-startPoint))*RandomFloat(-offsetAmount,offsetAmount); // Make two new segments from starting point to the final // and through the new (random) central segmentList.Add(new Segment(startPoint, midPoint)); segmentList.Add(new Segment(midPoint, endPoint)); end for offsetAmount /= 2; // Each time we halve the offset of the center point compared to the previous iteration end for
Essentially, each iteration splits each segment in half, with the center point slightly shifted. Each iteration this shift is halved. So, for five iterations we get the following:
Not bad. It already looks at least like lightning. However, lightning often has branches going in different directions.
To create them, sometimes when you split a lightning segment, instead of adding two segments, you need to add three. The third segment is simply a continuation of the lightning in the direction of the first (with a small random deviation).
Direction = midPoint - startPoint; splitEnd = Rotate(direction, randomSmallAngle)*lengthScale + midPoint; // lengthScale is better to take< 1. С 0.7 выглядит неплохо. segmentList.Add(new Segment(midPoint, splitEnd));
Then, in the next iterations, these segments are also divided. It would also be a good idea to reduce the brightness of the branch. Only the main lightning should be at full brightness, since it is the only one connected to the target.
Now it looks like this:
Now it looks more like lightning! Well... at least the shape. But what about everything else?
Adding light
The original system developed for the game used rounded beams. Each lightning segment was rendered using three quads, each with a light texture applied (to make it look like a rounded line). The rounded edges intersected to form joints. Looked pretty good:
... but, as you can see, it turned out quite bright. And, as the lightning decreased, the brightness only increased (as the intersections became closer). When trying to reduce the brightness, another problem arose - the transitions became Very visible as small dots along the entire length of the lightning.
If you have the ability to render lightning on an off-screen buffer, you can render it by applying maximum blending (D3DBLENDOP_MAX) to the off-screen buffer, and then simply add the result to the main screen. This will avoid the problem described above. If you don't have this option, you can create a vertex cut from the lightning by creating two vertices for each point of the lightning and moving each of them in the direction of the 2D normal (the normal is perpendicular to the average direction between the two segments going to that vertex).
It should look something like this:
Animating
And this is the most interesting thing. How do we animate this thing?After experimenting a bit, I found the following useful:
Every lightning is actually two lightning at a time. In this case, every 1/3 second, one of the lightning ends, and the cycle of each lightning is 1/6 second. With 60 FPS it will look like this:
- Frame 0: Lightning1 is generated at full brightness
- Frame 10: Lightning1 is generated at partial brightness, lightning2 is generated at full brightness
- Frame 20: New lightning1 is generated with full brightness, lightning2 is generated with partial brightness
- Frame 30: New lightning2 is generated at full brightness, lightning1 is generated at partial brightness
- Frame 40: New lightning1 is generated at full brightness, lightning2 is generated at partial brightness
- Etc.
That is, they alternate. Of course, a simple static fade doesn't look very good, so each frame it makes sense to move each point a little (it looks especially cool to move the end points more - it makes everything more dynamic). As a result we get:
And of course you can move the endpoints... let's say if you're aiming at moving targets:
And it's all! As you can see, making a cool looking zipper is not that difficult.
Laboratory experiments with atmospheric electricity reveal a lot, but mysteries still remain.
It turned out that cold plasma in a rarefied medium in the presence of a rapidly varying electric field has little to do with it.
There has been a ball lightning workshop at the St. Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics for several years. Here a small installation was invented and created that reproduces with sufficient accuracy the natural process of the birth of lightning on a damp surface: there is a copper input that plays the role of a lightning rod, a quartz tube with an electrode, and an open surface of tap water.
The role of the thunder cloud is a 600 µF capacitor bank, which can be charged up to 5.5 kV. This is a serious voltage - the slightest carelessness when working with it poses a mortal danger.
It was described in detail in an institute preprint dated March 24, 2004. The water in the polyethylene cup must be grounded; for this, a copper ring electrode is placed at the bottom. It is connected by an insulated copper busbar to the ground. The positive pole of the capacitor bank is also grounded.
From the copper input, a well-insulated busbar leads to the central electrode. This is a cylinder of iron, aluminum or copper, 5-6 mm in diameter, which is tightly surrounded by a quartz glass tube. It rises above the water surface by 2-3 mm, the electrode itself is lowered down by 3-4 mm. A cylindrical hole is formed into which a drop of water can be dropped. The end of the copper wire from the negative pole of the capacitor bank must be secured to a long ebonite handle.
If you quickly touch the copper input with this spark gap, a plasma jet will fly out from the central electrode with a pop, from which a spherical plasmoid will separate and float in the air. Its color will be different: a bright whitish plasmoid will fall from the iron electrode, green from the copper electrode, and white with a reddish tint from the aluminum electrode: such plasmoids are seen by pilots when lightning strikes the plane. 
To get real ball lightning, you need to insert a cylinder of porous carbon into a quartz tube. Such coals are used in arc spectral analysis. Porous carbon can be impregnated with various solutions and suspensions.
If you apply an aqueous extract from the soil, with organic matter, particles of coal and clay, to the electrode, then when discharged, classic “orange” colored ball lightning will fly out of the electrode. True, she will live no longer than a second, but this is enough to examine her in all details and admire her.
Obtaining real ball lightning is not difficult. You need linear lightning striking some kind of lightning rod, and damp air. 
In order to study the properties of ball lightning, we had to make thousands of them.
First of all, electrical measurements have shown that ball lightning is, indeed, an autonomous formation: the current in the discharge circuit disappears after a tenth of a second, then the lightning moves freely and glows due to the accumulated energy.
Surprisingly, ball lightning has room temperature!
Lightning, by the way, is not much hotter than a cucumber in the garden. This paradox is associated with the special state of ions in the ball lightning core. Each ion generated during the discharge is immediately hydrated - in humid air it is tightly surrounded by water molecules. Opposite ions are attracted to each other, but water molecules prevent them from getting closer. Arises special condition substances are hydrated clusters.
Computer modeling has shown that in hydrated plasma the rate of ion recombination slows down sharply. If in “dry” plasma it occurs in a billionth of a second, then for ions conserved in a cluster, recombination is delayed for tens and hundreds of seconds. During this time the lightning will glow. 
In the ball lightning core, hydrated clusters with a large dipole moment form chain and fractal structures. A cloud of warm, humid air can accumulate enormous energy, up to a kilojoule per liter, if it receives it during discharge in the form of separated ions of different signs.
Thus, the mystery of ball lightning can be considered solved. But just recently it took its place among the mysteries of nature discussed on television and in the press, somewhere next to UFOs, the Tunguska meteorite and the Bermuda Triangle.
And this is not surprising. The myth of ball lightning has fed more than one generation of journalists and scientists.
In pursuit of sensation, colorful details were introduced into reports of ball lightning. The farmer’s ingenuous story: “There was a swipe thunder A ball of fire, the size of a fist, ran down the drainpipe and dived into a barrel of water. The water gurgled. I walked over and stuck my hand in the water. The water seems to have become warmer...”, after four consecutive reprints in newspapers, turned into a scientific work on calculating the energy reserve in a volume the size of a fist, capable of evaporating a volume of water the size of a barrel.
Today, dear friends, we will conduct funny but very educational experiments in physics. You and I will call lightning, make an empty tin can explode, and bend a stream of water from the tap. These fun experiments are very interesting and exciting, and at the same time, they will help you understand physical nature some things.
We'll start our fun experiments by calling lightning
Homemade ones are best seen in the dark. The best days for calling lightning are clear and dry days. To do this, you will need: a plastic comb, a woolen sweater or rag, a metal door handle or door frame.
In order to call lightning, you need:
1. Rub the comb with quick movements on a woolen sweater or woolen rag for thirty seconds. The comb will charge.
2. Bring the comb very, very close to the doorknob or frame without touching it. You will see a flash jumping between them, just like lightning running from a cloud to the ground.
Let's continue our fun experiments by blowing up an empty tin can
To do this, we will need: an empty aluminum drink can with a ring opening, kitchen tongs, a large bowl or sink half filled with cold water, a tablespoon, a stove.
To make an empty can explode, you need to:
1. Fill a large bowl with cold water or fill the sink halfway.
2. Check that the tongs are holding the tin tightly.
3. Pour two tablespoons of water into the jar.
4. With the help of an adult, place the jar on the stove and boil water.
5. After steam has escaped from the can for twenty seconds, grab the can with tongs, palm facing up.
6. Quickly bring the jar to cold water, turn it upside down (very carefully so as not to drip boiling water on yourself) and lower the top of the jar just below the level of cold water.
7. Look what happens!
The steam pushes the air out of the can. As the tin cools, the steam turns back into a very small amount of water. Air pressure from the outside of the can will compress it inward. Without air inside the can to push outward on the walls, this pressure “explodes” the can.
Atmospheric pressure is much greater than you think - just watch how the can collapses!
Let's finish our fun experiments by bending the stream of water under the tap
And again, we need a plastic comb and a woolen sweater or rag.
1. Open the tap a little so that the drops turn into a thin continuous stream.
2. Rub the back of the comb on something woolen.
3. Hold the comb vertically and bring the back side close to the water.
4. The water will bend towards the comb.
Acquires an electrical charge. Then it begins to be attracted to objects that have the opposite charge.
You can rub balloons and try other plastic objects, e.g. plastic bottles and plastic bags. Try also using other fabrics, especially fluffy and silky ones.
One of my very good friends complains,
that she is throwing lightning bolts and feels electrified.
I dedicate this article to her, because, having made lightning according to my
recipes, you can release steam and remove excess charge.
So, what does it take to (lightning-fast) create lightning?
1. An electrical outlet... into which the cord from your computer is plugged.
2. Any version of Adobe Photoshop is installed on this computer.
3. The desire to master the method of creating lightning in 6 steps.
Photoshop is known as a tool for mocking photographs. However, few people tried to draw from scratch. More precisely, maybe they tried, but didn’t get far, it’s too complicated if you just try to draw in it without good advice.
So, lightning. By the way, in addition to the lightning itself, I will give valuable comments on using Photoshop.
Launch Adobe Photoshop.
1. Ctrl+N - create a new document. Specify dimensions, for example, 400 by 400 pixels.
2. Set the default colors - black and white. There is a D key for this - I recommend remembering it. (Try also X - switches background and art colors back and forth)
3. Fill the drawing with a gradient. Please note that you can access the main tools using the corresponding keys. These keys appear when you hold the mouse over the tool. For example, move the mouse to a brush, a tooltip appears - Brush (B) and other tools. Some letters offer a number of tools; access to them is carried out using Shift+letter. Returning to the gradient fill - this is the letter G, it includes both a simple color fill (in buckets with pouring paint) and a gradient. Press Shift+G until you see the gradient. Filling with a gradient is simple - you just need to click in one place of the picture and move the mouse to another place. There are several options for gradient fill - linear, radial, etc. It’s good to try everything to create different lightning bolts.
4. Apply the filter Filter => Render => Difference Clouds
5. Invert the colors (make a negative), which is achieved by pressing the I key (from inverse)
6. Darken the drawing. A good tool is levels - Ctrl+L, you need to move the levers to make the picture darker (move the central slider to the right). That's it, the black and white lightning is ready. You can color it a little.
7. Ctrl+U - top slider - color shade, the bottom two are saturation and brightness. Play with all the engines, look for your unique solution.
Isn't it true that the drawings you make are amazing? You can send me the most interesting ones, and I will post them here.
Anything else to show from Photoshop? By the way, now you can take any photo of yourself in the night sky and add your own lightning there, it can strike your hand. It doesn't hurt at all.
