• Question: What causes lightning and how can we see it if its bright?

    Asked by jodiebeard to Mike, Pip, Tianfu, Tim, Tom on 29 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by camel12.
    • Photo: Tom Lister

      Tom Lister answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      The exact cause of lightening is a slightly controversial topic, but basically it is caused by a build up of negative electric charge high up in a cloud and positive charge near the bottom (or the other way around, I can’t remember). A giant spark then links the two regions. This is usually within the cloud (about two thirds of the time) but can be between the cloud and the ground.

      Lightening is made up of a leader stroke, usually from cloud to ground, and then a return stroke from ground to cloud. The return stroke is the bright bit, because it carries most of the electrical charge. This stroking up and down may happen quite a few times in a single flash, but too fast for you to see.

      I’m not sure if that answers your question exactly?

    • Photo: Tim Stephens

      Tim Stephens answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      You can see it during the day because it’s very, very bright compared with daylight during a thunderstorm.

Comments