The sky is torn by a fiery crack. The roar that shakes the earth. Lightning — the most captivating and terrifying natural phenomenon. Three hundred years ago, people saw it as the wrath of gods or the flight of fiery dragons. But today we know: lightning is a giant electrical discharge. The science that studies it is called atmospheric electricity physics. And although we have learned a lot, lightning still holds secrets. How is it born? Why does it strike some places and avoid others? And can it be controlled? Let's figure it out. How Lightning is Born: Charge Separation It all starts in a thundercloud. It's not just a dark cloud, it's a giant generator of static electricity. Inside the cloud, ascending and descending air currents collide with ice crystals and water droplets. During these collisions, charge separation occurs: lighter particles (ice crystals) rise upwards and become positively charged, while heavier droplets (supercooled water) fall downwards, accumulating a negative charge. As a result, the upper part of the cloud becomes positively charged, and the lower part negatively charged. The potential difference between them can reach hundreds of millions of volts. The earth under the cloud also has a charge, usually positive. When the voltage becomes critical, air, which is normally an insulator, breaks through. A channel of ionized gas — plasma — is formed. Through it, an electric current rushes. This is what lightning is. Leader and Return Stroke: Why Lightning Is Not Straight Contrary to popular belief, lightning does not strike instantly. The process takes fractions of a second but consists of several stages. First, a weak ionized channel — a stepped leader — moves from the cloud to the ground. It moves in jerks, branching out like the roots of a tree. We don't see this because the discharge is weak. When the leader approaches the ground at a distance of 50-100 meters, a counter-leader moves towards it from the ground (from high objects). As so ... Read more