Why does lightning strike, and how far away is it?

Question

What makes there be lightning? Why does it happen when it rains and vice versa? How do you determine the distance lightning is away from you?

Answer 1

The clouds form when air near the earth's surface is warmed, causing it to rise since warm air rises. Think of a marshmallow in a microwave; as the microwave heats the marshmallow it begins to expand. This is similar to most things, like air. When air heats up it expands and this expanding air has to go somewhere because it is taking up more space, just as the marshmallow does, so this expanding warm air rises. Well, as the air rises it is losing its heat and cooling. When things cool, they condense; think of the marshmallow again as it cools when you take it out of the microwave (it shrinks, or condenses). In a general sense, to give you a brief idea of how clouds form, when condensation occurs, clouds take shape; you must keep in mind, however, that there is much more involved in cloud formation, but this was just to get you thinking and give a place for the lightning to happen.

The tendency of charges within a cloud is to have positive charges gather toward the upper portion and negative charges in the bottom of the cloud.
When the difference between these charges is great enough to overcome the air's natural insulation, which keeps these charges from mixing, a lightning flash can take place. This charge difference builds up to millions of volts before the stoke of lightning takes place. The lightning bolt actually happens because nature tries to maintain equilibrium, a state of balance between all things. This is why the lightning that you see is a discharge of energy in the form of electricity.

yea..thats the scientific answer to why it strikes...hope u can undertand it....i got it in skool

as for how far away it is

i learned that it comes from the "eye" of the storm or the center, && after the lightning flashes, count mississippi & the number of seconds equals a rought amount of miles you are away from the "eye" of the storm

hope that helps

Answer 2

Lightning is the "static" discharge of electricity that builds up between the clouds and earth. The charge actually goes up from the ground to the clouds, even though the lightning appears to travel from the clouds down. (there is a complicated reason). This is why your skin will "tingle" and your hair will stand just before lightning strikes you. During a good rain storm, the rain drops will carry the static charge to the ground and no lightning will take place. There are occasions when the charge is excessive even with rain and lightning strikes. From flash to bang, count the number of seconds and divide by 5. So if 5 seconds go by between lightning and thunder, it is one mile away.
Lightning rods work in the way that they continuously allow the static to trickle to ground and no charge builds up.

Answer 3

to keep an equalibrium between atmosophere and earth. it only happens when you have a cumulonimbus cloud. Lightning results from the buildup and discharge of electrical energy between positively and negatively charged areas. A thunderstorm will build up a huge electrical charge as ice particles collide in the updrafts and downdrafts of the storm. Thus creating a cumulonimbus cloud. Once you see a flash of lightning for every 5 seconds that go by before you hear the thunder, that's one mile.

Answer 4

From the time you see lightning and hear the thunder is about 11 or 12 hundred feet per second.

Answer 5

Friction between water particles in the clouds creates static electricity,it seeks a ground in the form of lightning.You can tell how far it is by counting the time that you see the flash to the time you hear the boom!How fast does sound travel? That's another question.

Answer 6

friction between clouds (forms electrons and builds density, thunder is the sound of it), it doesnt HAVE to be raining, just when rain is there, there are more dense clouds that can create friction,its electricity, and i think for every second after a lightening strike you do not hear thunder it is 5/6 miles away, i think?

Answer 7

Lightning can strike so a techniques as 10 miles from section the place it is raining. it is concerning the area you could hear thunder. in case you could hear thunder, you're interior of superb distance.

Answer 8

Lighting strikes because the positive ions in the clouds are attracted to the negative ions found on the earth.

The charge of the ions might be switched though...I don't know for sure.