Story of Lightning

Lightning

  1. During a thunderstorm, the hot air moves upwards while the raindrops fall downloads.
  2. This leads to a separation of charges in the atmosphere.
  3. As a result, negative charges get accumulated in the lower ages of the clouds while positive charges accumulate at the upper edges.
  4. The ground is accumulated with a positive charge all over.
  5. These charges begin to multiply due to the increase in winds and rainfall.
  6. Although the air is a poor conductor of electricity due to heavy charges it is unable to restrict the electric flow after some time.
  7. The negative charges and positive charges meet which results in the production of electric sparks in the form of a streak of light accompanied by a sound.
  8. The streak is called lightning and the whole phenomenon is called electric discharge. This electric discharge can occur between two or more clouds.

Why does lightning strikes tall buildings easily?

We know that lightning occurs as a streak of charges that fall toward the ground. Tall buildings and tall trees can easily conduct the charge towards the ground. The air gap between these buildings and lightning is short hence they are more susceptible to lightning. That does not mean that short objects would not be affected by lightning.