• Question: What causes lightning?

    Asked by aislingfennelll to Gabriele, Angela, Karen, Maria, Shane on 11 Nov 2013. This question was also asked by jessicawilliams.
    • Photo: Shane Mc Guinness

      Shane Mc Guinness answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      Excellent question. Ever rubbed a balloon off your jumper and stuck it you your head? Well, you’ve just created lightning! sort of…. It’s all based on static electricity. Clouds are made up of lots of rain droplets constantly rubbing off each other. All this builds up static electricity in the clouds, just like the static electricity in the balloon. All this leads to negative charge in the air, with lots of electrons (the bit of atoms that gives us electricity) built up with nowhere to go. It’s only when clouds come near something that allows it to release the charge, like a tall building, tree or mountain top that the cloud can finally release all that stored energy. Because the charge tries to become equal, it releases the charge very quickly through something that can allow the charge to flow. And there you have it lightning! And that idea is exactly why you can use this computer! The electricity generated by power stations works in a similar way, by rubbing metal off a big magnate to build up electrons that we can flow through wires to the back of your computer!

    • Photo: Angela Stevenson

      Angela Stevenson answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      Lightning is an electric current caused by a thunderstorm… similar to when you get shocked by a charged balloon or the door knob, but with A LOT more charge. Many small bits of ice (frozen raindrops) bump into each other as they move around in the air. All of those collisions create an electric charge that builds up in the clouds. Positive charges form at the top of the cloud and the negative ones form at the base of it. Since opposites attract, that causes a positive charge to build up on the ground beneath the cloud and then the grounds electrical charge concentrates around anything that sticks up, like people and trees standing alone in a field! ouch! The charge coming up from these points eventually connect with a charge reaching down from the clouds…. and that’s when you get that lightning bolt zipping through the skies! Great question Aisling 🙂

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