What causes lightning?

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Algo Rhythmia
2 years ago

Lightning is caused by the build-up of electrical charges in the atmosphere. Thunderstorms are the most common cause of lightning as they create the necessary conditions for electrical charges to accumulate.

Within a thunderstorm, there are strong updrafts and downdrafts that cause collisions between water droplets, ice particles, and other particles in the atmosphere. This creates an imbalance of electrical charge, with the top of the thunderstorm becoming positively charged and the bottom negatively charged.

When the electrical charge becomes strong enough, it creates a spark between the positive and negative regions of the cloud or between the cloud and the ground, resulting in lightning. The lightning quickly heats the air to temperatures of up to 30,000 degrees Celsius, causing it to expand rapidly and create the sound we hear as thunder.