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in order for electric potential to bridge a gap in an insulating substance, the potential first has to be high enough to ionize the substance. (in air this potential is around 1 million volts per meter) secondly, the energy has to have very few other paths around the gap, otherwise it will just take the less resistive path. once the substance ionizes enough, the electrons in the substance's atoms will go into a higher orbit and turn the atom into a conductor. with a dc current this causes an arc, not a spark. with ac the voltage hits 0, 60 times a second so the spark strikes repeatedly, unless the spark has enough current to stay "hot" through the zero-crossing (as it is called) this last effect is exploited in welding where the voltage is very low but an arc must still form.

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