can lightning pass in a vacuum?

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I was watching ATLA airbender and thought, if Azula and were in space can she shoot lighting at me.

In: Physics

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Not conventional lightning but electrons can move through a vacuum. See this video:

Anonymous 0 Comments

Lightning as we know it is a plasma of charged particles, and these particles do not require a medium to move through like a soundwave would. They only need a destination to discharge to, like when the (relatively) positive charge of a metal pole attracts lightning. You can see this effect in a plasma ball, a common science toy to demonstrate this exact phenomenon. Google “plasma ball toy” and I’m sure you will recognize it.

Anonymous 0 Comments

What we see as lightning is the effect of a massive charge passing through a medium, so no. The electricity CAN pass in a vacuum but without something to interact with on its way do don’t get that light show.