A Further Contribution to the Theory of the Thunderclouds

[摘要] The author of this paper proposed a theory to explain the mechanism in accumulating such a large amount of charges on the thunder-clouds. The mechanism here conceived quite similar to the main action of an influence machine in that two conductors come in contact in an electric field and then become separated, resulting in the separation of charges on the conductors. In the case of an influence machine, the conductors are made up of the metal sheets on a rototing circular plate of glass and a third metal conductor, generally wire, made the two sheets in contact when they came in a preferable electric field. In the proposed theory, two water particles take the part of the metal sheets and the third metal wire is omitted but its part is played by the direct collisions of the water-particles.At the outset of the paper, the auther discussed on the point that the water particles which constitute a cloud should be equally charged and their radii are equal if they are not very far from each other. In the next of the paper he ciscussed on a special thunder-cloud. He assumed that the water particles are uniform in size and that all the variables are the functions of the time and the distance from a point. These simplifications enabled him to calculate the distribution of the charges in a cloud. In the case of a thunder-cloud having a spherical form, the charge on the cloud surface does not disturb the process of driving electric charge to the surface of the cloud, at which they accumulate. He insists that the theory stands on the assumption that the clouds have a special conductivity due to the collisions of the water particles.

[学科分类] 大气科学