What is electric sparks? why and how does it originate ?

Answer 1

An electric arc is an electrical breakdown of a gas which produces an ongoing plasma discharge, resulting from a current flowing through normally nonconductive media such as air. A synonym is arc discharge.

The various shapes of electric arc are emergent properties of nonlinear patterns of current and electric field. The arc occurs in the gas-filled space between two conductive electrodes (often made of carbon) and it results in a very high temperature, capable of melting or vaporizing virtually anything. Electric arc is a continuous discharge, while a similar electric spark discharge is instant and momentary.

On a commercial basis, electric arcs are used for welding, plasma cutting, for electrical discharge machining, as an arc lamp in movie theater projectors and Followspots in stage lighting. Electric arc furnaces are used to produce steel and other substances. Calcium carbide is made in this way as it requires a large amount of energy to promote an endothermic reaction (at temperatures of 2500 °C).

Answer 2

Electric sparks are caused by the air becoming heated to a plasma temperature as 2 electrodes are either pulled apart, or severely over loaded. The sparks that you see are either that plasma, or material that has been blown away from the affected junction. These arcs can be very lethal if the current that caused them is high enough. Circuit breaker explosions due to over load can reach 50000 degrees F, and create a fireball capable of killing anyone in it's path.

Answer 3

The term is "dielectric breakdown of free space" since air is a dielectric medium. Opposing charges build up between two items, when in close proximity electrons can be transmitted and releasing energy in the form of light.