Why doesn’t lightning travel in a straight line?

Answer 1

So it’s kind of a complicated process, but here’s the two-sentence version: Lightning is an electric current that takes the path of least resistance from the base of a cloud to the ground. Since the air it travels through is not uniform—variations in things like temperature, humidity, and pollutants determine how resistant air is to the charge—the lightning has to zig and zag to stay on that path.

Answer 2

One way to understand it is to look at a crack in the sidewalk (or perhaps a cracker) and compare that shape to the path of a lightning stroke through the sky. Lightning usually originates at altitudes of around ten miles, and can reach about that far horizontally. Air does not conduct electricity until it is broken down ('ionized') by a high voltage electric field. This breakdown is a random, unpredictable process that proceeds in a series of steps between the sky and the earth.

Answer 3

Lightning basically tries to find the path of least resistance as it travels down to the ground. But this is not always a straight line because air is not a perfect mixture. There are fluctuations in temperature, humidity, pollutants, dust particles, etc. in the air, and so the resistance varies. The path it chooses doesn’t have to be a straight line (remember, a straight line means ‘the least distance’ and not ‘the least resistance’). In fact, you will never see a straight bolt of lightning, at least not in the real world. Does Lightning Travel Up or Down?

Answer 4

lightning is basically tries to find a path with least resistance as it travels down to the ground

Answer 5

Air is actually not a good conductor and hence when lightning strikes, it will try to take a path through ions or water droplets in the air. Hence, lightning doesn't strike straight down as ions and water molecules don't line up in a straight line in the air.

Answer 6

Air is actually not a good conductor and hence when lightning strikes, it will try to take a path through ions or water droplets in the air. Hence, lightning doesn't strike straight down as ions and water molecules don't line up in a straight line in the air.

Answer 7

Lightning basically tries to find the path of least resistance as it travels down to the ground. But this is not always a straight line because air is not a perfect mixture. There are fluctuations in temperature, humidity, pollutants, dust particles, etc. in the air, and so the resistance varies.

Answer 8

Lighting is an electric current. It's a flow of electrons that's about a thousand times stronger than the current in our houses.

Lightning basically tries to find the path of least resistance as it travels down to the ground.

But this is not always a straight line because air is not a perfect mixture.

There are fluctuations in temperature, humidity, pollutants, dust particles, etc. in the air, and so the resistance varies.

As a result, lightning strikes are often observed in a zigzag pattern.

Answer 9

Lightning basically tries to find the path of least resistance as it travels down to the ground. But this is not always a straight line because air is not a perfect mixture. There are fluctuations in temperature, humidity, pollutants, dust particles, etc. in the air, and so the resistance varies.

Answer 10

The current goes through the line with the least resistance, not the straightest line. During a thunderstorm, electric current is released from the air to the ground, passing through the complicated troposphere on the way, and the path of least resistance in the air due to air pressure or other impurities cannot be a straight line.