Does lightning come from the ground into the sky or from the sky into the ground?

Question

u guys are being way to stupid my 4 yr old bro wanted to know and wouldnt believe me so it was a simple Q!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Lightning is an electric current. Within a thundercloud way up in the sky, 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. After a while, the whole cloud fills up with electrical charges. The positive charges or protons form at the top of the cloud and the negative charges or electrons form at the bottom of the cloud. Since opposites attract, that causes a positive charge to build up on the ground beneath the cloud. The grounds electrical charge concentrates around anything that sticks up, such as mountains, people, or single trees. The charge coming up from these points eventually connects with a charge reaching down from the clouds and - zap - lightning strikes!

Answer 2

what?, i dont get the question.... lighting comes from the clouds in the sky during a thunderstorm/lightningstorm.. and then sometimes it hits the ground...@,@

Answer 3

lt comes from the ground

Answer 4

Lightning is an electrical discharge produced to balance the differences between positive and negative charges within a cloud, between two clouds, or between the cloud and the ground.

You've heard the expression, "opposites attract." Well, this is exactly what happens with cloud-to-ground lightning.

A negative charge at the base of the cloud is attracted to a positive charge at the earth's surface. This charge is densest on isolated or protruding objects, like trees and tall buildings. When the difference between these charges becomes sufficiently strong, the normal insulating qualities of the air break down and a lightning bolt strikes.

What occurs as an instantaneous flash to the human observer actually is a complex progression of events. First, a usually invisible discharge of electrons races down from the cloud. This downward moving bolt of negatively charged electricity (called a stepped leader) incites a discharge of positively charged electricity from the ground.

This second bolt races upward to meet the descending charge, and it is when they connect that the luminous flash of electricity we know as lightning races up from the ground to the cloud in perhaps 1/10,000th of a second. This final step in the lightning process is called a "return stroke."

During a thunderstorm, not only is the ground positively charged, so is everything on it. The tallest object in the area is most likely to be struck, whether it is a building, a tree, or a person standing alone in a field.

Although cloud-to-ground lightning strikes pose the most danger to people on the ground, they make up only about 20% of all lightning strikes. The most common type of lightning in a thunderstorm is in-cloud lightning, which occurs within the cloud itself.

Cloud-to-cloud lightning is a common occurrence in which opposite electrical charges in one cloud attract those in another.

Answer 5

Lighting is a form of electric charge between the rain clouds and the Earth. Most rain clouds are negatively charged at the base and positively at the top. Therefore, lightning comes from the sky into the ground.

=^-^=

Answer 6

It can go either way: if it branches downward it came from the sky; if it branches upward it came from the ground.

Answer 7

Lightning is from friction between clouds, so it comes from the sky.

Answer 8

There are several kinds of lightning, Cloud to Ground, Ground to Cloud, Cloud to Cloud and Within Cloud.  All lightning strikes are caused by a build up of electric charge.  Essentially lightning is static electricity, the same thing that can happen if you shuffle your feet on a carpet and then touch somewthing connected to the ground.  But just as there are more than one way to build up static electricity in your body, there are more than one way for static to build up in clouds.  As an example, suppose a cloud moves over dry land and the bottom of the cloud picks up a negative charge from the ground.  Since the bottom of the cloud now has an excess negative charge, there is now a difference in charge between the bottom of the cloud and the top of the same cloud, there would be a difference in charge between the cloud and another cloud.

Lightning can strike anytime there is a difference in electric charge.  This difference does not have to be Negative to Positive, it can be Negative to more Negative or Positive to more positive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichtenberg...