In a lightning strike, a charge of 18 coulombs is transferred between a cloud and the ground in 2.0 × 10-2 second at a potential difference of 1.5 × 106 volts. What is the average current produced by this strike?
3.6 × 10-1 A
9.0 × 102 A
3.0 × 104 A
7.5 × 107 A
9.0 x 102 is the answer.
To find the average current produced by the lightning strike, we can use Ohm's Law, which states that current (I) is equal to the charge (Q) transferred divided by the time (t) taken.
Given:
Charge (Q) = 18 coulombs
Time (t) = 2.0 × 10^(-2) seconds
Using the formula:
I = Q / t
Substituting the given values:
I = 18 coulombs / (2.0 × 10^(-2) seconds)
To simplify the calculation, we can convert 2.0 × 10^(-2) seconds to scientific notation:
I = 18 coulombs / 2.0 × 10^(-2) seconds
I = 18 coulombs / (2.0 × 10^(-2)) seconds
Now, let's perform the division:
I = 9 × 10^(1) Amperes
Converting back to regular notation:
I = 9.0 × 10^(2) Amperes
Therefore, the average current produced by this lightning strike is 9.0 × 10^(2) Amperes, which is equivalent to 900 Amperes.
Thus, the correct answer is 9.0 × 10^(2) A.
To find the average current produced by the lightning strike, we can use Ohm's law, which states that current (I) is equal to the charge (Q) divided by the time (t):
I = Q / t
In this case, the charge transferred is 18 coulombs and the time taken is 2.0 × 10^-2 seconds. Plugging these values into the equation:
I = 18 C / (2.0 × 10^-2 s)
Simplifying:
I = 900 C/s
So the average current produced by this strike is 900 amps (A).
However, none of the given answer choices match this result. We need to convert the units of amps to match one of the answer choices.
To convert from amps to a scientific notation, we need to move the decimal point to the left until we have a number between 1 and 10. In this case, we can move the decimal point two places to the left:
I = 9.0 x 10^2 A
Therefore, the answer choice that matches the calculated average current of the lightning strike is:
9.0 × 10^2 A.