What is the charge that lightning has and where does it come from?

Answer 1

This is what some scientists believe causes lightning. In thunderstorms, large fields of electricity are built up in the clouds when liquid and small ice particles reach freezing and collide. When these fields are large enough, a huge spark happens between them (static electricity) lessening the charge separation. A spark of lightning can happen between clouds, between the cloud and the ground or between a cloud and air.

In the United States more than a 100 people die each year and approximately 250 people are injured from lightning strikes. Florida has more cases of lightning strikes than any other part of the United States due to the numerous thunderstorms that occur there each year.

Thunderstorms can occur without much warning. Skies could be blue one moment and then a big black thunderhead could come up suddenly bringing rain, wind and lightning.

Lightning Facts

Lightning strikes about one hundred times per second somewhere on the earth which is approximately three billion times per year.

Lightning can strike miles away from a thunderstorm. If you see dark heavy clouds in the distance find shelter. Even though it seems far away and your feel safe be aware that lightning could strike. Here are some tips to keep you safe if you are outdoors during a lightning storm.

Get away from things that are prone to attract bolts of lightning:

Metal objects (including fences, pipes, rails, vehicles etc.)

Open bodies of water

Areas with large groups of people

Trees

Telephone poles

It's not a good idea to stand on a hill or at the highest point of an area. Seek the lowest area you can find such as a valley or a ravine. Lightning will hit the tallest point, so make sure you are not the tallest point.

If you find yourself in an open field without shelter when a lightning storm approaches, get on your knees, bend forward and put your hands on your knees. Do not lie flat on the ground. If your hair feels like it is standing on end, be very cautious because this is a warning signal that lightning might be targeting you.

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== == well correct me if i am wrong but it comes from the clouds and the friction of the clouds like when you play with a balloon and when you put it by your hair it makes your hair stick up.... well its just like that but bigger...another example would be this is something cool you can see at home if you want* after you do a load of socks if there are some stuck together turn off the lights and take them apart slowly and you can see a little bit of electricity in them

but I hope that was 100% accurate because that's all Ii can remember from my science class from like 4 years ago.... so hope that helped -this answer is technically right^^ lightning is just the build up of electrons in the clouds (or ground rarely but sometimes) and needs a quick ruit to the ground, it results in a lightning strike. I'm in grade 9 doing a science project on lightning so I learned a lot^^ good answer above there though! ___________________________________________________________________________________ The above answer is sorta correct but not really and the next answer is more correct than the first but needs some improvement. When you have a thunderstorm that forms from convection and differences in temperature across a frontal boundary, you start to get differing charges between the cloud base and the ground. When the difference in charge gets great enough between the cloud base and the ground, turning the air from a insulator into a conductor, a negatively charged stepped leader comes down from the cloud base and meets a positively charged return stroke from the ground. When this happens, we see visible lightning and positive charge is carried up into the cloud base, while negative charge is carried down into the ground, essentially it is a transfer of both of the charges involved in the electrical discharge. This lightning strike is called a negative strike because the stepped leader is negatively charged. There is also something called a positive lightning strike, where enough differing charge builds up between the top of the cumulonimbus cloud and the ground and the same transfer of positive and negative charges happens, but the stepped leader from the top of the cloud in this case is positively charged and the return stroke from the ground is negatively charged. Initially the top of the cloud is positively charged, the cloud base is negatively charged, and the ground is positively charged. Positive strikes are possible after several negative strikes between the cloud base and the ground have happened. Lastly, lightning strikes can go out a maximum of 10 miles ahead and behind the storm, so remember just the because it looks like the storm has passed, doesn't mean the threat of lightning doesn't exist. This is a more complete answer to your question.

Answer 2

Lightning has a negative charge. It is generated by the separation of positive and negative charges within a storm cloud, with the negative charges building up at the base of the cloud and the positive charges accumulating on the ground below. When the electrical potential difference becomes strong enough, a lightning bolt occurs to equalize the charges.

Answer 3

It comes from the clouds