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In lightning storms, the potential difference between the Earth and the bottom of the thunderclouds can be as high as 35,000,000 V. The bottoms of thunderclouds are typically 1500 m above the Earth, and may have an area of 120 km2. Modeling the Earth-cloud system as a huge capacitor, calculate (a) the capacitance of the Earth-cloud system, (b) the charge stored in the “capacitor,” and (c) the energy stored in the “capacitor.”
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