The Science of Lightning - Youtube Video

According to the passage, what do most people picture lightning as?

• A colored flash in the sky

• A glowing ball

• A brilliant white strike that flashes between a cloud and the ground

• A soundless phenomenon

Fill in the blank: To have a lightning strike, first you need to separate ________ and ________ charges within a cloud.

• positive; negative

• hot; cold

• wet; dry

• north; south

The bottom of the storm cloud becomes more negatively-charged because:

• positive charges move to the bottom

• negative charges move to the bottom

• the sun heats the cloud base

• rain falls from the cloud

True or False: The top of the storm cloud is more negatively-charged than the bottom of the storm cloud.

• True

• False

What does an electric field describe, as mentioned in the video?

• The color of lightning

• The amount of rain in a storm

• How much force, and in what direction a positive charge would go if it were in the field

• The temperature of the cloud

According to the video, what is the first stage of lightning called when the electric field grows strong enough?

• The first stage of lightning is when an invisible channel of negative charges, called a stepped leader, begins to branch toward the ground.

• The first stage of lightning is when thunder is heard before any visible flash.

• The first stage of lightning is when rain begins to fall from the clouds.

• The first stage of lightning is when the sky turns completely dark.

What is the temperature of lightning mentioned in the video?

• 5,000 degrees Celsius

• 10,000 degrees Celsius

• 25,000 degrees Celsius

• 100,000 degrees Celsius

Most of the time, we see negative lightning.

• True

• False

What is the name of the much-less-common type of lightning that involves a net transfer of positive charge from the cloud to the ground?

• Positive lightning

• Negative lightning

• Sheet lightning

• Ball lightning

Red sprites are caused when molecules in the atmosphere are broken apart and photons of red light are released.

• True

• False