ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Crackle (physics)

Crackle is a sound that happens when things move around and bump into each other VERY quickly. Imagine you're walking in the park and you step on a pile of dry leaves. When you do that, the leaves start to move and crash into each other very quickly. This makes a crunchy sound- that's like crackle!

In physics, crackle happens when two things rub together or when they become electrically charged. This can happen in a lot of different situations, like when you peel tape off of a package, when you snap your fingers, or even when lightning strikes!

When things rub together or become charged, they create tiny sparks of electricity that we can't see with our eyes. These sparks are too small to make a big explosion, but they can create a lot of energy in a very short amount of time. All of this energy moving around makes the crackling sound that we can hear.

So, whenever you hear the sound of crackle, remember that it's all about things moving around and bumping into each other with really fast sparks of electricity!