Mondo Knows Facts
Lightning bolts are hotter than the surface of the Sun
A single electrical strike can heat surrounding air to thirty thousand degrees Celsius
When an electric discharge pierces the atmosphere, the rapid flow of electrons ionises air molecules into superheated plasma. This brief flash raises atmospheric temperature to around 30,000 degrees Celsius, which is roughly five times hotter than the surface of the Sun. The sudden expansion of heated air creates a shockwave heard as thunder.
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Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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Tags: physics, lightning, electricity
Lightning bolts are hotter than the surface of the Sun: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- A single electrical strike can heat surrounding air to thirty thousand degrees Celsius. The figure is taken from NOAA, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a science fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Science shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.