Question

with a partner: brainstorm components you want to include in a model that answers the question, what causes lightning to strike at a particular place and time? list those components here. electrical charge imbalance, atmospheric conditions, cloud - to - ground interactions, etc. on your own: using the list you made with your partner, develop your model. be sure to include and show relationships between the components you brainstormed. what causes lightning to strike at a particular place and time? what is lightning? if you could zoom in on a bolt of lightning, what would you see?

Explanation:

Lightning is an electrical - discharge phenomenon in the atmosphere. It occurs when there is a large electrical potential difference between different regions of a cloud (intra - cloud lightning) or between a cloud and the ground (cloud - to - ground lightning). The main causes for lightning to strike at a particular place and time include the presence of strong updrafts and downdrafts in a thundercloud, which separate charges. Ice crystals and water droplets in the cloud collide and rub against each other, leading to charge separation. When the electrical field strength becomes high enough, a lightning strike occurs. If one could zoom in on a bolt of lightning, they would see a channel of ionized air through which a large amount of electrical current flows.

Answer:

Lightning is an electrical discharge in the atmosphere. Causes for striking at a particular place and time include charge - separation processes in thunderclouds due to updrafts, downdrafts, and particle collisions. Zooming in on a bolt would reveal an ionized - air channel for current flow.