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| Opposites attract. That's lightning. |
| Lightning really is as simple as that. In and
around a thunderstorm cloud there are areas of positively
charged energy and areas of negatively charged energy. When
the oppositely charged areas are near each other, an
electrical discharge of energy travels between them. That's
lightning. |
| The cloud areas get their charges as water and
ice particles move and interact. Smaller, positively charged
particles rise to the top of the cloud, and larger, negatively charged
particles gather near the bottom. As soon as the buildup of
charge is great enough, the oppositely charged particles
attract and discharge their energy as a bolt of lightning. |
| Watch out below, though, because the excess
energy near the bottom of the cloud causes lightning strikes
on the ground below. When the electrical charge at the
bottom of the thundercloud is strong enough, channels of
charged air, called leaders, reach down toward the ground in
search of positively charged air. The leaders attract other
charged channels, called streamers, up from the ground. When
a leader and a streamer meet, the powerful electrical
current flows between them, causing the familiar flash of
lightning. |
| Have you ever seen lightning flash from the top of
a thunderstorm? Have you ever seen lightning strike horizontally across
the sky? Although less common, these are two of the
variety of
lightning bolts you might see. |
