Explain how lightning takes place.

During the development of a thunderstorm, the air currents move in upward direction while the water droplets move in downward direction. These

movements cause separation of charges. The positive charges collect near the upper edges of the clouds and negative charges collect near the

lower edges of the clouds.

Accumulation of positive charges near the ground also takes place. When the magnitude of collected charges become large, the air cannot resist

their flow and as a result, negative and positive charges meet producing streaks of bright light and sound, called lightning.