The 'electricity' would move at the same speed, but it would take longer to get from the cloud to the ground.
Chat with our AI personalities
The speed of lightning is the speed of light, which is about 299,792 kilometers per second (186,282 miles per second) in a vacuum. If lightning traveled in a straight line instead of zigzagging, it would still move at the speed of light.
Thunder occurs when lightning heats up the air, causing it to expand and create a sound wave. The zigzag pattern of thunder is due to the way lightning branches out in different directions before connecting back to the ground. This branching path of lightning creates a zigzag pattern of sound waves that we perceive as thunder.
A lightning strike typically follows a jagged, branching shape due to the path of least resistance through the air. It can appear as a single bolt or multiple branches stretching across the sky or ground.
So it’s kind of a complicated process, but here’s the two-sentence version: Lightning is an electric current that takes the path of least resistance from the base of a cloud to the ground. Since the air it travels through is not uniform—variations in things like temperature, humidity, and pollutants determine how resistant air is to the charge—the lightning has to zig and zag to stay on that path.
Sulfur, nitrogen, phosphorus, and bromine are all nonmetals located in the p-block of the periodic table. They have varying electronegativities and are essential elements for various biological processes. Additionally, these elements are commonly found in nature and have important industrial applications.
Longshore drift generally occurs when waves approach the shoreline at an angle, creating a zig-zag pattern of sediment transport along the coast. This process is most common in areas with strong wave action and prevailing currents that move sediment along the shore.