Chapter 15 – Some Natural Phenomena

A static charge is a form of electricity formed as a result of an imbalance between negative and positive charges.

Methods of Charging

• The body gets charged by rubbing due to friction, you must have experienced it while walking.
• Charges produced during rubbing cause an imbalance between charges, and this process is called static charges.
• Charging through induction and charging by contact are some methods of charging.

Charging due to rubbing

• You must have tried rubbing a plastic scale with your hair and watched as it got charged to attract small pieces of paper. 
• It gets charged due to imbalance between charges because of which there is a change in electrons, and small pieces of paper are attracted towards the scale.

Charged objects are objects that become charged due to rubbing and other charging processes. Types of charged objects:

• Neutral: Positive and negative electrons in an object are equal.
• Positively charged: When protons are more than electrons in an object, it is called a positively charged object.
• Negatively charged: When negative charges are more as compared to positive charges in an object, it is called a negatively charged object.

Interaction of positive and negative charges causes two phenomena: Repulsion and Attraction.

• Positive and negative charges attract each other. 
• Two positive charges repel each other.
• Two negative charges repel each other.

Transfer of charges

Charges transfer from a good conductor of electricity like metals and water to another good conductor of electricity due to electrons’ movement between the two conductors. Passing electricity causes the movement of electrons, which further causes the transfer of charges.

The story of lightning starts from heavy rainfall or storms where the particles of air and water droplets in the storm cloud collide, thereby causing a separation of charges between the cloud and the ground, which creates an imbalance in nature. The ground becomes positively charged while the storm cloud, which is negatively charged, allows an electric discharge through the air as charges increase between ground and storm cloud. As a result, you experience lightning as nature transfers electric current between the two charges that are the ground (positively charged) and the storm cloud (negatively charged).

How to Protect Yourself From Lightning 

• Outside your house: Find a safe and robust tree, stay inside a car with all doors and windows closed. Stay away from metal rods and other good conductors of electricity. Limit your exposure to lightning by crouching instead of lying on the floor.
• Inside your house: Stay away from wires, avoid using devices like mobile phones and telephones, and stay away from water as it is a good conductor of electricity.
• Minimize destruction in buildings: Use lightning conductors and earthing processes to transfer electricity directly to the earth, thus protecting the building.

You must have experienced sudden shaking of your house floor; this phenomenon is called an earthquake. Disturbances inside the crust of the earth cause an earthquake, which results in large scale damage to population and properties. 

The causes of an earthquake

• The collision of tectonic plates within the crust of the earth results in an earthquake. These tectonic plates with the earth’s crust are continuously moving and sometimes collide with each other. This collision results in an earthquake.
• Earthquakes are even caused by a sudden release of energy from some region of earth which causes sudden shaking of the earth’s crust. 

How to Protect Yourself From Earthquakes

• Outside: Find a spot away from the buildings, or if possible, stay inside the car and wait until the earthquake ends.
• Inside: Stay away from wall hangings, take shelter under a table, and stay away from tall and heavy objects.
• Minimize destruction in buildings: Make sure the building is not built in an earthquake-prone area. Earthquakes often cause fire, so keep proper fire handling equipment in the building and fix your cupboard and other wall hangings properly so that they do not fall.

What is Natural Phenomena?

Natural phenomena are any process that occurs naturally, and there is no human involvement like earthquakes and lightning. 

Is earthing a natural phenomenon?

No, earthing is not a natural phenomenon. You can use this process to safeguard your building from lightning.

What are the three most destructive natural phenomena?

Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis are the three most destructive natural phenomena. 

Which natural phenomenon is responsible for lightning?

Electric discharge between different clouds or between cloud and ground is responsible for lightning.

What causes a natural phenomenon?

Natural imbalances like heavy rainfall and the collision of tectonic plates are the reasons for natural phenomena.

What are the physical phenomena?

All-natural phenomena that consider the physical properties of energy and matter are called physical phenomena like erosion.

Natural phenomena is a very interesting and important chapter of science. So, the visual representation of topics is very important. The MSVgo app is a video library that helps you understand topics through exploratory visualizations and practical examples. MSVgo helps you to understand the science behind formulas and phenomena through animations and videos. So, do check out the videos at MSVgo for better understanding and clarification.