Library.
3 verifications about Lightning Lightning ×
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False 1/10
“Lightning is caused by clouds colliding with each other.”
Lightning arises from electrical charge separation within thunderstorms, not from clouds colliding. Collisions among microscopic ice crystals, graupel, and water particles help separate charge; when the resulting electric field becomes strong enough, an electrical discharge occurs. The claim mistakes these internal particle interactions for collisions between whole clouds.
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True 10/10
“Lightning can strike the same location more than once.”
This claim is unambiguously true. NOAA, NASA, and multiple peer-reviewed studies confirm that lightning routinely strikes the same location more than once — across separate flashes and even separate storms. The Empire State Building is struck 20–25 times per year, and research has identified hundreds of "recurrent lightning spots" across natural terrain. The old saying "lightning never strikes twice" is a well-debunked myth.
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Mostly True 8/10
“The temperature of lightning is higher than the temperature of the surface of the Sun.”
This claim is well-supported. Lightning's plasma channel reaches approximately 30,000°C (54,000°F), while the Sun's surface (photosphere) is about 5,500°C (10,000°F) — making lightning roughly five times hotter. This is confirmed by Weather.gov, NASA, Britannica, and other authoritative sources. The claim correctly specifies "the surface of the Sun," which is the key qualifier. The only caveat: lightning's temperature is a brief, localized peak, not a sustained condition, and the Sun's core (~15 million°C) is vastly hotter than lightning.