How does lightning generate so much electricity with lightning bolts?

Question

How can lightning generate electricity in the tens of millions of volts.Where does this electricity really come from.How does a storm generate so much electrical energy

Answer 1

Lightning is a build up of static electricity. It holds a + charge. When the charge gets too big, it is released in a lightning bolt, to the object of least resistance, ie. tree, building, tower, you, etc. Storms are not the only thing that can create a lightning charge. Anytime two objects rub against each other, a static charge can be built. Check out this web site for more info regarding lightning.

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

Answer 2

Lightning is created by an electrical charge difference between two clouds or between a cloud and the ground.  When enough static electric energy has built up, there is an enormous amount of current.  Current is the movement of electrons between two locations, and this is what creates electricity.

Imagine walking in a room when the weather is dry, and rub your feet on the carpet.  Then touch a doorknob.  You get a shock, right?  What you did was build up a charge in your body, and that shock is basically the same principle as lightning.  What you built up in your body was a small charge.  What builds up in clouds during a storm, quite often by the instability in the air and friction, is enormous.  A cloud is quite large and can build up a large charge.  The clouds then discharge all this energy at one time, and the electrons are transfered to the ground or another cloud of opposite charge.  There are so many electrons moving, that the current is very, very high, resulting in a very large voltage.

Answer 3

the electricity is just produced from the atmosphere

the clouds in the sky are negatively (or positvely) charged and the earth is the opposite, those charges then meet up really quickly with a lot of force and create a blur of energy called lightning!

Answer 4

There is a theory about positive and negative charges but this has been challenged recently.  Currently no one is really sure.  One interesting new concept is that solar energy is a trigger.