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| The positive and negative charges that occur in a cloud during a storm |
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| The Charges of when a lightning bolt strikes Earths Surface |
Our great sky is filled with electric charge and both the positive and negative charges are spread evenly throughout our large atmosphere. Inside a thunderstorm however the electric charge is spread out differently. A thunderstorm is made up of ice crystals and hailstones, a mixture of cold air, water, and wind. The ice crystals have a positive charge, and the hailstones have a negative charge. The positive charge of the crystals are formed by a updraft where the air pushes rain water up because warm air rises up into the atmosphere, the cool air is heavier than warm air making a downdraft where the negative charge starts to descend back into the clouds. 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. Lightning bolts can occur when nature tries to keep a form of equal balance in the atmosphere causing the energy to form electricity striking the lightning bolt during or before the thunderstorm. A single stroke of lightning can take only a half a second to occur. Although many people say "thunder and lightning" it is actually "lightning and thunder". Thunder occurs because a stroke or flash of lightning which is able to heat up to five times hotter than air on the surface of our sun. Each volt or strike of lightning can add up to over one billion volts of electricity.
