Question
A large lightning bolt had a 20,000-A current and moved 30.0 C of charge. What was its duration?
Question by OpenStax is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Final Answer

1.50 ms1.50 \textrm{ ms}

Solution video

OpenStax College Physics, Chapter 20, Problem 5 (Problems & Exercises)

OpenStax College Physics, Chapter 20, Problem 5 (PE) video thumbnail

In order to watch this solution you need to have a subscription.

Start free trial Log in
vote with a rating of votes with an average rating of .

Calculator Screenshots

  • OpenStax College Physics, Chapter 20, Problem 5 (PE) calculator screenshot 1
Video Transcript
This is College Physics Answers with Shaun Dychko. Current is the charge that moves divided by the time it takes for it to move. For this lightning bolt we want to know what the duration of the lightning bolt is. So we have to solve this for t. So we multiply both sides by t and divide by I. Then on the left side the I's cancel leaving us with t on the left. On the right side the t's cancel leaving us with Q divided by I. So that's 30 coulombs divided by 20,000 amps which gives 0.00150 seconds which is 1.50 milliseconds.