<^Lightning> Lightning is static electricity, Hollywood style. Forget little sparks. Think flashy. Lightning “dances” through clouds. It “sings” in a booming voice called thunder. Yet it happens for the same reason you get a shock from a hairy house cat.
In a storm, powerful electric charges build up in the sky and on the ground. Some charges are positive. Some are negative. The two kinds of charges attract. The positive and negative charges pull on each other until . . . ka-boom! A giant electric spark called lightning flashes between them.
Lightning may zip from cloud to cloud. Or, it may travel between the cloud and the ground. In either case, the kabooming charges create plenty of heat, light, and sound!
A lightning rod is a metal pole attached to the ground with a strong metal wire. Metal is a <#5963,7><!conductor> - an easy path for electricity to take. When lightning hits the metal pole, it zips safely along the metal wire to the ground.
