LightningLight! What is this? Where does it come from? What can we do with it to help humanity? It allows us to see the unknown in places that have been dark for years. It helps us see what is around us. Different light sources can be used to power the objects around us. Lightning is a source of light. Lightning is an electrostatic discharge between two electrically charged regions in clouds and on the surface of a planet. Charged regions of the atmosphere are equalized by a lightning strike called a strike. There are three types of lightning from clouds, intra-cloud; goes from one cloud to itself, from one cloud to another; from cloud to cloud and from cloud to ground. Earth, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn are the only planets in our solar system where lightning occurs. Cloud-to-ground lightning is the most common of the three types. About 100 blows per second and each bolt can hold up to a billion volts of electricity. It also produces a lot of heat. A single lightning bolt can heat the surrounding air up to five times hotter than the surface of the sun. This causes the air to expand and vibrate, causing thunder shortly after the flash. Lightning is not only an amazing sight, but it is also extremely dangerous. Around 2,000 people die worldwide each year from lightning and hundreds more suffer lifelong problems such as memory loss, dizziness or numbness. Electrical Storms When an electrical storm occurs, the clouds are like giant capacitors. The upper part has a positive charge and the lower part has a negative charge. Although no one in the scientific community can agree on how clouds become charged, most believe it happens during the water cycle. As strange as it may seem, clouds can hold up... middle of paper ......f ionized air is called a leader. During this time, the positive charge increases on the Earth's surface, beneath objects, and humans respond locally to this strong electric field by sending out positive streamers. When a streamer and a stage leader meet, they can form a complete path for lightning to travel from the cloud to the ground. After this fateful encounter, lightning strikes. Finally, the air around the strike heats and expands so that it causes a shockwave in the form of a sound wave that travels away from the path of the strike (thunder). Sources Zavisa, John. “How Lightning Works.” How things work. HowStuffWorks.com, April 1, 2000. Web. February 14, 2014 “Lightning”. National Geographic. Np, and Web. February 12, 2014. “Weather information for kids from Weather Wiz Kids.” » Weather Wiz Kids Weather information for kids. Np, and Web. February 13. 2014