If lightning is an electric current, does it need to be a path to generate it? 10

Need. Lightning is a phenomenon of intense electrical discharge between clouds, between clouds and ground, or between parts of the cloud body (usually in cumulonimbus clouds).

Lightning is because of the discharge of the charged cloud in the air, the charge accumulates in the cloud to produce voltage, the air is high voltage, when the voltage reaches a certain level, it will break down the air insulation and produce a current, when the current is small, it will be consumed in the air insulation breakdown, when it is large enough, it will reach the ground or protrude from the ground buildings, trees, etc.

It walks through air, and when the insulation breaks down, the air becomes a conductor.

There is no need for pathways, as lightning itself can make pathways!

In the case of extremely high voltage, such as lightning, many non-conductive substances such as air can also become conductors, so lightning can split from high altitude to the ground.

In fact, there is no very clear division between insulators and conductors, and any substance can become a conductor under certain conditions.

PS: In the normal state, air is the pathway? So you sit in a room and touch the air, the air touches the socket, you don't want to be electrocuted?

It is true that lightning is not an electric current, the essence of lightning is static electricity, which is the accumulation of a large number of electrons.

It depends on what kind of lightning you're talking about. There are many kinds of lightning, and there is a discharge phenomenon that occurs when charged clouds meet in the sky, which is not an electric current, but a positive and negative contact discharge. There is also a kind of landing thunder, which is the kind of lightning that hits from the sky to the ground, which should be regarded as an electric current.

Because the voltage is very, very high when lightning is generated, it can break down the air between the clouds and the ground, and those who understand physics should be able to know that under the action of strong voltage, although the air is an insulator before, it can become a conductor after the breakdown, and to generate current, the path is necessary, but it does not necessarily have to be a circuit. In addition, the fluorescent lamps we use at home are also based on this principle. The reason for having a "starter" is to provide a short break to allow the coil to generate an instantaneous high voltage to break through the air in the fluorescent lamp and generate an electric current.

Thus glowing.

First of all, lightning is voltage, not current, and if you want to generate current, you need to be a pathway.

The formation of lightning is the strong convection of clouds to produce an electric charge, (positive charge or negative charge), and then induce the opposite charge to another cloud or earth, producing a high-voltage electric field, when the voltage of this electric field is higher than the insulation voltage of the air, it produces a current discharge, neutralizing the charge of this electric field, which is lightning.

So, lightning first has a voltage and then produces an electric current.

It's the electric current. Lightning is produced by the collision of a positive cloud with another negatively charged cloud! It is the neutralization of positive and negative charges, so it is a current with a very high voltage in a very short period of time, and it ionizes the air due to the extremely high voltage, making the air conductive.

An electric current is generated! And there is an electric field! There is also a potential difference, that is, a voltage is generated.

Yes, the United States already has the technology to do this.

Since ancient times, the sky and the earth have not been related to each other, and people on the ground have carried out many experiments and have understood the nature of electricity, but they still feel mysterious about the thunder and lightning in the sky. By the middle of the 18th century, there were quite a few people who believed that lightning and electric sparks were similar. Like them, Franklin illustrates the similarities between the two by contrasting, but Franklin's knowledge is deeper than others, such as:

Luminous; The color of the light manuscript collapse; bent direction shirt argument; fast movement; Conducted by metals; Thunderclaps or noises at the time of the eruption; It can be maintained in water or ice; cleave the object through which it passes; killing animals; molten metal; combustible combustion; Sulfur smell.

1) Luminescence; (2) the color of light; (3) the direction of bending; (4) fast movement; (5) It is conducted by metal hovers; (6) There is a thunderbolt or noise at the time of the outbreak; (7) It can still be maintained in water or ice; (8) splitting the object through which it passes; (9) killing animals; (10) molten metal; (11) Burning flammable materials; (12) Sulfur odor. ”