Lightning is a discharge of static electricity in the atmosphere, which causes a bright flash of light. When lighting goes through the air, it heats the air. This heating causes the air to expand and contract. This causes the sound called thunder.
Lightning is caused by a buildup of negative ions in the atmosphere which discharges into the ground causing the negative ions to go with the positive ions in the ground. Static electricity is negatively and positively charged atoms. A static charge on the other hand is an individual atom with a negative Positive charge.
There are three types of charges negative positive and neutral. Negative and positive ions attract. But the negatives repel each other, just like two positives will.
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Neutrally charged ions can attract to both negative and positive because they have and balanced charge of negative and positive ions, this means it has the same amount of negative and positive ions. This is where the following rule is the opposites attract, and likes repelling.
Static electricity is generated when two different objects are rubbed together and some electrons are stolen from one object and then start to collect on the surface of the other object. The object that loses electrons becomes positively charged, because electrons are negatively charged and there is an absence of electrons and too many protons.
Now because opposites attract and like repelling the reason hair stands up when you rub something on it can be explained. When something is rubbed in a dry place, the thing takes electrons from your hair, leaving your hair with a positive charge it stands up as far away as possible from the other positively charged hairs.
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There reason there is little static electricity in areas with a high humidity, like the Virgin Islands, is because the humidity in the air is a conductor of electricity, so it helps transfer the free electrons to an area that can accept electrons, like the earth so not many free electrons stay on any object that is saturated.
Static electricity can be use to do many things, one of these things is keeping down air pollution by putting an electrode in factory smoke stacks so that the dust will collect on the electrode. Lightning and static can be hazardous.
Lightning is harmful; some people think it does not have any threat from a distance, like when a lighting storm is up to ten miles away. The most lightning strikes take place under the lightning storm where the rain is raining the hardest.
If your hair stands up you hear static popping or crackling and if you feel you body tingle due to ions moving through your body the static on portable electronic things increases suddenly, you smell the smell of statically charged air, or you see static sparks sparking in the air around you.
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Things to do inside to keep from getting hurt while in a lightning storm are, get away from doorways outside, porches, windows, and good conductors of electricity.