THE GENERATION OF ELECTRICITY and the formation of rain in thunderstorms are closely related through the physical and electrical interactions among colliding cloud particles, raindrops and hail. Our understanding of these processes started with the observations of Benjamin Franklin and Lord Rayleigh, in the 18th and 19th centuries, that electric fields exist in thunderclouds and that charged raindrops can coalesce. Modern theories indicate that different fall velocities of large and small drops are responsible for the separation of charge in the interior of the cloud.
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© 1969 American Institute of Physics.
1969
American Institute of Physics
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