Lightening

5 comments

Rate

nitin.chauhan Participant Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 2	Lightening 04/02/2008 6:50 AM
	Hi i want to know when there is a lightening stroke in the air, there is very heavy current in it, can any one tell me what becomes the return path to this current?
	Register to Reply

Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, vote them!

Electroman Guru Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Dunstable, England Posts: 2821 Good Answers: 45	#1 Re: Lightening 04/02/2008 7:32 AM
	Simply put: The return path is what builds up the huge charge in the first place, usually caused by static charged rain droplets moving through the cloud to cause the cloud to be charged between the top of the cloud and the bottom... When the charge is sufficient to breakdown the air dielectric a spark discharges the cloud - known to us as a lightning bolt!! John. __________________ A little knowledge is a dangerous thing - Googling is far worse!
	Register to Reply Score 1 for Good Answer

user-deleted-1105 Guru Join Date: May 2007 Location: Harlow England Posts: 16512 Good Answers: 670	#2 Re: Lightening 04/02/2008 7:34 AM
	I think the lightening IS the return path. The charge gets accumulated by the air movement and weird stuff like that.... Del __________________ health warning: These posts may contain traces of nut.
	Register to Reply

Mr. Truman Brain Guru Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: South-east corner of Spain 50 48 49.24N 2 28 27.70W Posts: 1508 Good Answers: 31	#3 In reply to #2 Re: Lightening 04/02/2008 9:14 AM
	Just so we can all have a look at a few strikes! Enjoy or remember if you live in California! __________________ “It's kind of fun to do the impossible.” Walt Disney
	Register to Reply

Mr. Truman Brain Guru Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: South-east corner of Spain 50 48 49.24N 2 28 27.70W Posts: 1508 Good Answers: 31	#5 In reply to #3 Re: Lightening 04/02/2008 9:41 AM
	Just so we can all have a look at a few strikes! Enjoy or remember if you live in California! (This time with the links!) __________________ “It's kind of fun to do the impossible.” Walt Disney
	Register to Reply

Bluestone Guru Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: OH USA Posts: 549 Good Answers: 27	#4 Re: Lightening 04/02/2008 9:19 AM
	Both Electroman and Del are correct. There are essentially three components of a cloud to earth (or earth to cloud) lightning stroke; pilot streamer, stepped leader and return stroke. The return stroke, or strokes, are the ones we see and associate with lightning strikes. There can be multiple return strokes associated with a single lightning event due to partial recovery of the ionized arc channel.
	Register to Reply

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, vote them!

Copy to Clipboard

	Got Something to Say?
	Ask a Question Start a Discussion

	Aerospace
	BioMech & BioMed
	Chemical & Material Science
	Civil Engineering
	Communications & Electronics
	Education and Engineering Careers
	Electrical Engineering
	General Discussion
	Instrumentation
	Manufacturing
	Mechanical Engineering
	New Technologies & Research
	Software & Programming
	Sustainable Engineering
	Transportation

	Site Directories
	Forum Directory Blog Directory User Group Directory RSS Feeds CR4 Rules of Conduct CR4 FAQ Site Glossary Who's Online (77 right now) Show Members