Air Poor Conductor of Electricity

[Ron]

Air is a poor conductor of electricity but how does an electric current pass through air during lightning?

 

Thanks,

 

Ron

[Mr Skeptic]

Volts. Lots and lots of volts. Also, humid air conducts electricity better than dry air, and maybe the raindrops themselves could help. In any case, once a little current flows there is a path of ions which improves the conductivity allowing yet more current to flow.

[eclectic`]

Air is a poor conductor of electricity but how does an electric current pass through air during lightning?

 

Thanks,

 

Ron

 

Electrons flow through a perfect vacuum unimpeded. The difference with air is that it is filled with oxygen, nitrogen and other gases that impeded the flow of electrons. To make electrons flow through non-conducting substances, a sufficiently high voltage is required to draw an electron from an atom. Add up the number of atoms an multiply by the voltage of ionization for each atom, and you will have the overall ionizing voltage to create lightning. Once that occurs, you now have a conducting path for the lightning, and a very high current is generated during discharge.

[lemur]

Not trying to hijack the thread, but it made me think of the old question about whether lightning can be harnessed productively. Wouldn't it be possible to build lightning rods on the ocean that electrolyze sea water into hydrogen and oxygen?

[michel123456]

Air is a poor conductor of electricity but how does an electric current pass through air during lightning?

 

Thanks,

 

Ron

 

I think the short answer is that if the air was a good conductor of electricity, there would be no lightning at all.