(ORDO NEWS) — You’ve probably heard the story that the grass is greener after a thunderstorm due to all sorts of effects created by the lightning. But is it really so?
It is assumed that nitrogen in the air after lightning turns into oxide, and then, dissolving in water, enters the soil and acts as a fertilizer. But this theory does not stand up to scrutiny!
Air contains 78% nitrogen, and during lightning, some of it turns into nitrogen dioxide, which dissolves into raindrops and falls on your lawn.
This extra nitrogen works exactly like fertilizer; the grass absorbs it and becomes greener. At least there is such a hypothesis that seems to explain why the grass seems greener after a thunderstorm.
There is another point of view, according to which the grass seems brighter due to raindrops on it, which create an optical illusion of a more saturated color. So which of these views is actually correct?
Does the grass get greener after a thunderstorm?
We know that nitrates are good for plants and help them grow faster. So if lightning produces nitrogen-containing compounds, they could theoretically speed up the growth of your lawn and vegetables.
Air is indeed 78% nitrogen, and lightning energy is high enough to break nitrogen molecules, creating radicals that react with oxygen molecules to form nitrogen dioxide.
It dissolves in raindrops to form nitrous and nitric acids, which can be an excellent source of nitrite and nitrate anions.
But in raindrops, this compound is just crumbs, because otherwise, after each thunderstorm, your body itched a lot, and your skin was covered with yellow chemical burns.
Such amounts of nitrate anions are practically nothing for plants, given that they are formed only after a lightning strike, which occurs during the entire thunderstorm from the strength of a couple of dozen.
It is also worth considering that rain, falling on the ground, washes out the nitrates contained there from the soil, and nitrogen acids that enter in microscopic quantities are not able to make up for this loss.
On the other hand, a thunderstorm does not last long enough, and the effect in the form of grass greening is observed immediately after it ends.
But have you ever seen plants grow by leaps and bounds and turn green after applying a regular nitrogen-containing fertilizer to the soil?
The apparent change in color may be an optical illusion, but it could also be just a distortion of our perception when the sun comes out after overcast weather and everything around starts to seem brighter.
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