Lightning is like a phenomenon. ⚡

Lightning ⚡

Lightning, as a phenomenon, is a powerful electric discharge. Its genesis begins in a storm cloud, inside which water droplets and icicles constantly collide. Their friction between each other leads to the appearance of static electricity. Particles with a positive charge accumulate at the top, and negatively charged particles collect at the bottom of the cloud. When the charge difference becomes critical, an electric discharge, or lightning, occurs.

Lightning as a phenomenon does not always occur within the same cloud. When two electrified clouds collide, charged particles also jump between them. They form a bright electrical channel that begins and ends in the sky. Lightning can also strike an object on the ground if it carries a positive charge and is located at a close distance from the thunderstorm cloud.

The riddle is ball lightning.

So far, only ball lightning remains a mystery – a small electric ball that can occur not only during a thunderstorm, but also in the middle of a clear day. The study of this phenomenon is complicated by the fact that it cannot be reproduced in laboratory conditions. So scientists have to study ball lightning based on eyewitness accounts.

Linear lightning

The best studied is linear lightning, which is a spark discharge. Under the influence of an electric field, free electrons, which are always present in the atmosphere, acquire a high speed and ionize them when they collide with molecules. As a result, the number of electrons in the air increases, which are again accelerated by the electric field and, in turn, cause the ionization of molecules.

In a narrow air channel, the number of electrons moving from the cloud to the ground increases like an avalanche. Charges begin to flow out of the cloud through this ionized channel, as in a conductor. A so-called lightning leader appears, which runs 50-100 m and stops. Then it immediately resumes in the same channel and runs the same distance.

Flat zipper

Flat lightning is a silent discharge in the clouds when there are not enough charges in them to form linear lightning. This type of lightning is not accompanied by a rumble.

Point lightning

Point lightning is the least studied type of lightning. It is a type of linear lightning, but some of the pulses do not manifest, and there is a gap in time and space between the manifestation of each new one. It looks like a dashed linear lightning bolt. Among the problems of the study is the very low frequency of such lightning.

Gamma lightning

Gamma lightning is a short-term burst of high-energy gamma radiation at low and medium altitudes in storm clouds of the atmosphere immediately after ordinary linear lightning. First recorded by NASA's Compton Gamma-ray Observatory in 1991. The physical nature of gamma rays is still being studied.

Lightning creates electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere, the so-called atmospherics, which interfere with radio communication, especially on long and medium waves.
On average, 100 lightning strikes on Earth every second.

Lightning is a great threat to people's lives. It is possible to be struck by lightning both outdoors and indoors. People who are outdoors during a thunderstorm, hiding from the rain under trees and near working electrical equipment connected to the network of a TV, radio receiver, mobile phone suffer more often.