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Positive lightning is less common than negative lightning and on average makes up less than 5% of all lightning strikes. [ 10 ] A bolt from the blue lightning strike which appears to initiate from the clear, but [ clarification needed ] the turbulent sky above the anvil cloud and drive a bolt of plasma through the cloud directly to the ground.
Plasma temperatures in lightning can approach 28,000 kelvins. Atmospheric electricity describes the electrical charges in the Earth's atmosphere (or that of another planet). The movement of charge between the Earth's surface, the atmosphere, and the ionosphere is known as the global atmospheric electrical circuit.
Sympathetic lightning is the tendency of lightning to be loosely coordinated across long distances. Discharges can appear in clusters when viewed from space. [22] [23] [24] [clarification needed] Upward lightning or ground-to-cloud lightning is a lightning flash which originates from the top of a grounded object and propagates upward from this ...
A lightning strike or lightning bolt is a lightning event in which an electric discharge takes place between the atmosphere and the ground. Most originate in a cumulonimbus cloud and terminate on the ground, called cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning. A less common type of strike, ground-to-cloud (GC) lightning, is upward-propagating lightning ...
It is now known that positive Lichtenberg figures have longer, branching structures because long sparks within air can more easily form and propagate from positively charged high-voltage terminals. This property has been used to measure the transient voltage polarity and magnitude of lightning surges on electrical power lines. [6]
When a sufficiently large positive lightning strike carries charges to the ground, the cloud top is left with a strongly negative net charge. This can be modeled as a quasi-static electric dipole and for less than 10 milliseconds a strong electric field is generated in the region above the thunderstorm.
Before these particles were discovered, Benjamin Franklin had defined a positive charge as being the charge acquired by a glass rod when it is rubbed with a silk cloth. [34] A proton by definition carries a charge of exactly 1.602 176 634 × 10 −19 coulombs .
"At this key he charged phials, and from the electric fire thus obtained, he kindled spirits, and performed all other electrical experiments which are usually exhibited by an excited globe or tube." Contrary to popular belief, the kite was not hit by visible lightning; otherwise Franklin would almost certainly have been killed.