How smart is Yas Forums? Without looking anything up, explain how lightning works

>Without looking anything up

Properly utilizing available resources is a core part of intelligence. It's the difference between that guy that refuses to stop and ask for directions and that prideful chad that drives in circles for two hours.

>It's the difference between that guy that refuses to stop and ask for directions and that prideful chad that drives in circles for two hours.
wat

Charges in clouds build up, either pos or neg. Ground builds up opposite charge. Charges build up until potential difference is large enough to turn the air (insulator) into a conductor (literally getting a voltage large enough to rip electrons off an insulator) then you get large flow of electrons and then voltage difference goes to zero.
Physics grad. Ama

He had a stroke from trying to figure out how lightning works~

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Mbembe de big won open up dem sky & him screm, him SCREM AT US ALL becaus we have med dem won VERY ANGRY dat we have not learned

What's the amount of Volts needed to have a pulse travel a cm in air?

Clouds form mixes of snow and rain/sleet, with the snow rising on updrafts and the rain/sleet falling through it. These collide in passing and a small static charge forms, just like rubbing a balloon on your hair charges both as electrons are stripped from one and added to the other (I'm not sure which does which). Thus the rain that falls to the ground is charged in some way, either because it has extra electrons or is missing free electrons, and the cloud the rain came from is charged in exactly the opposite way. As the rain lands on the ground it passes that charge to it, and this creates a growing static potential between the ground and the clouds, one which can build from multiple passing clouds. The charge is prevented from flowing back to the cloud by distance and by air being a poor conductor, but eventually the static potential is large enough to overcome both of these limiters and once the current starts flowing it ionizes the path it takes through the air, which greatly reduces the resistance, which makes more current flow, which further ionizes the air, and so on, until the entire static potential flows through the channel at once, and that's a lightning strike.

ITT: people that don't know how lightning works

around 10 kV. rule of thumb is kV per mm. air is pretty close to vacuum

A pulse of what?

due to photon excitation, particles in the air gradually grab electrons and gain a charge
when weather turns cold, due to air rising and pressure diminishing, water vapor condenses into droplets
the surface of these droplets grows in x^2 while their volume grows in x^3
which means that the electrical charges of the various stuff in the raindrops increase way more than the ability of the droplets to keep them, so the charges located at their surface escape in the surrounding air as low-temperature plasma, generating a growing magnetic fiels within the storm cloud
this magnetic field manages to self-contain the electrical charge of the cloud, but keeps lowering the internal pressure, so the cloud climbs way higher than freezing temperature of the water droplets
and the droplets newly transformed into ice particles become suddenly much less able to keep electrical charges on their surface

result; after enough energy transfers within the cloud, an irreversibly unstable condition develops where the charge is so high that the air column under the cloud is not insulating anymore
a static electric field develops progressively from could to ground, and once there is contact, a large part of the cloud's charge flows in a few seconds
thunder

Thanks

>ITT: shitposting

Technically, that's the breakdown potential. After current is flowing in the arc, it takes way less voltage to sustain it.

>Assuming a cat is a sphere
Kek, you fucking physics 1 cuck.
You need to know where you are above sea level because air density drops the higher you get. You also need to know humidity because water is an insulator, and other significant surrounding electromagnetic fields.

Referring to the people actually trying

1 bar air and vacuum have an almost-identical breakdown voltage, to within 10^-3 or so, IIRC. Humidity lowers it, not raises it.

Go fly a kite.

How lightning works: buy some a1 coke and some whiskey. Get loaded then get ripping on them rails. Lighting will be created in your body shortly after

No, you forgot to tell him about the key!

>Almost
Challenger shuttle was almost perfectly ready to go to space

Fuck.

The analogy was pointing out that seeking out information is a vital aspect of intelligence, you absolute retards. Did you just completely ignore the previous line to the one you quoted?

Omg theres so many landmines down there lulz

I watch a stream on mixer with a couple who's constantly begging for $16,000. They got the camera angled on the female, so that you get a full view of her ass when she walks out of the room, or picks something up. She's also always playing with her bare feet on camera. If you flirt with her she throws a fit about how it's a diss to her relationship, and that my friend is how lightning works.

I'm so glad you're still alive big Yas Forumsro.~ don't scare me like that again!

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Clouds with water molecules in it's structure generate lots static charge, eventually the difference in voltage between the cloud and earth cause a discharge? Idk much about voltages and stuff but that's my guess

positive and negative reactions from the earth angers the clouds and a bolt of lighting punishes the land

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Thank you for the reminder!

OP, make sure you tie a large metal key to the kite string (near the kite itself). And wrap your head in tinfoil.

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When you rub a lot of stuff together it makes some new stuff and that new stuff gets bigger and bigger and has to go somewhere

I'm an English major, thank you. Perhaps I could tutor you. You apparently need some help with your English comprehension.

silence u impotent little fuckbird uwu;;;;

I'm guessing that due to static being generated in the clouds from ice rubbing together, it eventually generates enough electricity to bridge the gap between the clouds and ground by ionizing the air, causing the electricity to travel down and further ionize the air around it. All of this happens really quickly.