Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!portal!atari!daisy!wooding
From: wooding@daisy.UUCP (Mike Wooding)
Newsgroups: sci.misc
Subject: Re: Lightning, Up or Down?
Message-ID: <933@daisy.UUCP>
Date: 15 Mar 88 23:02:00 GMT
References: <64600001@mic> <512@dukempd.UUCP> <1160@uop.edu>
Organization: Daisy Systems, Mt. View, CA
Lines: 21
Summary: up and down

In article <1160@uop.edu>, todd@uop.edu (Dr. Nethack) writes:
. In article <512@dukempd.UUCP>, crown@dukempd.UUCP (Rick Crownover) writes:
. > In article <64600001@mic>, gary@mic.UUCP writes:
. > > 
. > > Is it correct that lightning travels from the ground up instead of the
. > > sky down to the ground?  
. 
. As I recall, there is a ground to cloud stroke, and the cloud to ground
. follows.
. 
. I don't have my library at work or I could tell you.
. 
. See Martin Ulam's "Lightning"

 I seem to recall reading that what we perceive as a stroke, is really
 multiple surges of current, back and forth between ground and cloud.
 The first surge opens a path (kind of), and subsequent surges follow,
 until some sort of charge equilibrium is reached. My guess is that it
 might be a large RC circuit, which is pulsed and then oscillates.

	m wooding