Not only acids and bases dissociate, water dissociates too: and the equilibrium of this reaction is described by the equation. 1.7. However, in practice we use simplified version of this equation, called water ionization constant (sometimes called also water ion product) 1.4.
A lightning flash preceding its thunder by one second would be approximately 350 metres (0.22 mi) in distance; a delay of three seconds would indicate a distance of about one kilometer (0.62 mi) (3Ã340 m). A flash preceding thunder by five seconds would indicate a distance of approximately one mile (1.6 km) (5Ã340 m).
At any moment, there are as many as 1,800 thunderstorms in progress somewhere on earth and each is producing deadly lightning. Lightning detection systems in the U.S. see an average of 25 million strokes of lightning each year, from some 100,000 storms. It is estimated that the earth is struck by 100 lightning bolts every second. The clouds at the high levels of the thunderstorm are made of ice crystals.