How is lightning formed

Lightning is formed in a process called "charge separation." This occurs within a thunderstorm, where air currents and water droplets collide and create an electrical charge. The top of the thunderstorm becomes positively charged, while the bottom becomes negatively charged.

When the charge separation becomes strong enough, it creates an electric field in the atmosphere. This electric field causes a sudden discharge of electricity, known as lightning, to occur between the positively and negatively charged areas within the cloud, or between the cloud and the ground. This discharge of electricity heats the air around it, causing it to rapidly expand and create the loud sound we hear as thunder.