I don't know where to post this

[Hendrix]

We all know that electricity takes all available paths to try and get back to its source and that the earth is not its destination.
OK then, what is the destination of lightning?
The answer is probably as clear as the nose on your face, but it's friday and I the thought just popped into my simple head.

 

[ceb58]

We all know that electricity takes all available paths to try and get back to its source and that the earth is not its destination.
OK then, what is the destination of lightning?
The answer is probably as clear as the nose on your face, but it's friday and I the thought just popped into my simple head.

The communication towers I look after

 

[Hendrix]

LOL :grin::grin::grin:

 

[K8MHZ]

We all know that electricity takes all available paths to try and get back to its source and that the earth is not its destination.
OK then, what is the destination of lightning?
The answer is probably as clear as the nose on your face, but it's friday and I the thought just popped into my simple head.

Lightning travels from one charge center to another. The centers can be in the earth, in the clouds and of either polarity. We have cloud to cloud, ground to cloud and cloud to ground strikes. For some reason we don't get the benefit of ground to ground lightning.

If you are interested in learning more about lightning, contact your local NWS office and ask when Skywarn training will be given. Not only will you learn more about lightning, you will get to see great videos of it. One of my favorites was a slo mo of a strike vaporizing a #6 wire running down a power pole.

 

[charlie b]

We all know that electricity takes all available paths to try and get back to its source and that the earth is not its destination.

I wish we all knew that. I still get the occasional colleague who wants to push the ?current seeks a path to ground? nonsense.?

OK then, what is the destination of lightning?

Ground. The difference is that lightning is not a continuous flow of charge. It is a one-time, one-moment event. It is the same as taking a charged capacitor and touching its two leads together. A moment before, there was an excess positive charge on one plate and an excess negative charge on the other plate. When the two leads are connected, charge flows from one plate to the other, and that flow does count as being ?current flow.? But it is over in a moment, because as soon as the two plates have an equal charge, current stops flowing.

. . . but it's Friday. . . .

Welcome to POETS day (Phooey on Everything, Tomorrow?s Saturday).

 

[K8MHZ]

Charlie,

The destination of lightning is not always the ground. In fact, cloud to cloud strikes constitute the majority of lightning strikes.

Cloud-to-cloud lightning is the most common form of lightning. Most often it occurs within a cloud, and involves electricity passing between the negatively charged base of the cloud and its positively charged upper levels. This internal lightning stroke often illuminates the cloud from within. A large flash can produce a spectacular snapshot of an entire cumulonimbus, which may remain visible for up to half a second if there is a succession of strokes up and down the leader path.

http://www.theairlinepilots.com/met/cloudtocloudlightning.htm

The difference is that lightning is not a continuous flow of charge. It is a one-time, one-moment event.

See above, lightning consists of multiple strokes. During Skywarn training super slow motion videos are shown where the multiple strokes are clearly visible.