Lightning, can turn sand into glass by striking it and heating it to extreme temperatures. Then, with the disappearance of the heat source, the sand cools rapidly, forming glass. Lightning is created when static electricity is stored in the clouds. The charged particles, between the positively and negatively charged parts of the storm cloud, collide and freeze.
The static electricity becomes very intense, the electric field creates a conductive path between the earth (positively charged) and the bottom of the cloud (negatively charged) and lightning is created and channelled down this conductive path. Lightning bolts are hotter than the surface of the sun and where they strike, dramatic things can occur. One such result is the production of glass, when sand is struck by lightning. When lightning strikes a sandy place, such as a beach, the sand particles become extremely hot in a very short span of time.
As the heat descends down through the sand, it melts, then forms new bonds with one another. Now they are one glass entity, rather than lots of grains of sand. As a flash of lightning is, by definition, a very quick source of heat, this extreme temperature is promptly removed and the sand will cool very quickly. This intense heating and cooling is a part of the controlled glass-making process.
When done in an uncontrolled manner, it creates fulgurites. These are tubes of glass, which are created after the lightning strikes. The lower you go, their diameter will decrease. These glass tubes will have rough exteriors but smooth interiors. Fulgurites do not create glass, the kind you can drink out of, as they are not of the right strength and are not exactly glass, but are a glass-like substance. The chemical formula for fulgurite is Sio2 and ranges from black to gray.
The static electricity becomes very intense, the electric field creates a conductive path between the earth (positively charged) and the bottom of the cloud (negatively charged) and lightning is created and channelled down this conductive path. Lightning bolts are hotter than the surface of the sun and where they strike, dramatic things can occur. One such result is the production of glass, when sand is struck by lightning. When lightning strikes a sandy place, such as a beach, the sand particles become extremely hot in a very short span of time.
As the heat descends down through the sand, it melts, then forms new bonds with one another. Now they are one glass entity, rather than lots of grains of sand. As a flash of lightning is, by definition, a very quick source of heat, this extreme temperature is promptly removed and the sand will cool very quickly. This intense heating and cooling is a part of the controlled glass-making process.
When done in an uncontrolled manner, it creates fulgurites. These are tubes of glass, which are created after the lightning strikes. The lower you go, their diameter will decrease. These glass tubes will have rough exteriors but smooth interiors. Fulgurites do not create glass, the kind you can drink out of, as they are not of the right strength and are not exactly glass, but are a glass-like substance. The chemical formula for fulgurite is Sio2 and ranges from black to gray.