Lightning is a sudden electrostatic discharge that occurs during a thunderstorm. It happens when there is a buildup of electrical charge in the atmosphere, typically between clouds or between a cloud and the ground. Here's how it works:
1. Formation of Charge: Inside a thundercloud, water droplets and ice crystals collide, creating friction and separation of positive and negative charges. This separation leads to the accumulation of electrical charge within the cloud.
2. Charge Separation: As the storm develops, the positively charged particles tend to gather at the top of the cloud, while the negatively charged particles accumulate at the bottom.
3. Electric Field: The charge separation creates an electric field between the cloud and the ground, or between different parts of the cloud. This electric field increases as the charge separation becomes more pronounced.
4. Ionization: When the electric field becomes strong enough, it ionizes the air molecules along its path, creating a conductive channel known as a stepped leader. This stepped leader extends from the cloud towards the ground.
5. Return Stroke: When the stepped leader gets close to the ground, a channel of ionized air extends upward from tall objects on the ground, such as buildings, trees, or even people. This upward stream of positive ions meets the downward stepped leader, completing the circuit. The flow of electrons from the cloud to the ground creates a bright flash of light, known as the return stroke, which we perceive as lightning.
6. Thunder: The intense heat generated by the lightning bolt rapidly expands the air along its path, creating a shock wave that we hear as thunder.
Lightning is a result of the buildup and release of electrical charge within thunderclouds, which creates a powerful discharge of energy between different parts of the cloud or between the cloud and the ground.
#learnwithcoral
1. Formation of Charge: Inside a thundercloud, water droplets and ice crystals collide, creating friction and separation of positive and negative charges. This separation leads to the accumulation of electrical charge within the cloud.
2. Charge Separation: As the storm develops, the positively charged particles tend to gather at the top of the cloud, while the negatively charged particles accumulate at the bottom.
3. Electric Field: The charge separation creates an electric field between the cloud and the ground, or between different parts of the cloud. This electric field increases as the charge separation becomes more pronounced.
4. Ionization: When the electric field becomes strong enough, it ionizes the air molecules along its path, creating a conductive channel known as a stepped leader. This stepped leader extends from the cloud towards the ground.
5. Return Stroke: When the stepped leader gets close to the ground, a channel of ionized air extends upward from tall objects on the ground, such as buildings, trees, or even people. This upward stream of positive ions meets the downward stepped leader, completing the circuit. The flow of electrons from the cloud to the ground creates a bright flash of light, known as the return stroke, which we perceive as lightning.
6. Thunder: The intense heat generated by the lightning bolt rapidly expands the air along its path, creating a shock wave that we hear as thunder.
Lightning is a result of the buildup and release of electrical charge within thunderclouds, which creates a powerful discharge of energy between different parts of the cloud or between the cloud and the ground.
#learnwithcoral