Eli5: how does thunder and lightning happen?
In: 7
Lightning is basically static electricity between particles in clouds.
Normally the air/atmosphere is an insulator and doesn’t allow current to flow. During a storm that produces lightning the voltage increases and starts to turn the air into plasma, which is conductive. Typically the biggest difference in charge is between the storm (-) and the ground (+), so the strike typically goes from the storm to the ground.
Thunder is the result of lightning. Basically it rapidly makes the air hotter and increases the pressure causing the air to expand quickly. The expansion of air is the sound of thunder.
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