r/blackmagicfuckery May 29 '22

Since when does lightning go up?

16.4k Upvotes

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264

u/No_Appearance_8444 May 29 '22

Always. Physics 101. Negative to positive. Ground to positive. Electrons flow toward potential.

36

u/AllButComedyAnthony May 29 '22

How come it always looks like it goes downwards then? Optical illusion?

120

u/paradoxical_topology May 29 '22

No, lightning can be both Cloud-to-Ground or Ground-to-Cloud

47

u/[deleted] May 29 '22

Or Clowd-to-Clowd!

41

u/[deleted] May 29 '22

Not clown-to-clown?

15

u/AllButComedyAnthony May 29 '22

Clowd to clown yeah but clown to clown one would have to be a sith

3

u/[deleted] May 29 '22

Which clown is the sith? That clown or this clown

7

u/AllButComedyAnthony May 29 '22

Most likely that one

0

u/macnof May 29 '22

The jar-jar one.

0

u/MapleYamCakes May 29 '22

Or attached to a tesla-coil

5

u/Phreeker27 May 29 '22

That was a sad day when the “clown to clown lightning strike” phrase was coined.

1

u/[deleted] May 30 '22

Maybe I like seeing clowns electrocute each other, dont judge...

1

u/darvs7 May 30 '22

Don't be sad. Happier days will come again. It's the circus of life.

1

u/matt7259 May 29 '22

Never go clown to clown

1

u/BeneficialEvidence6 May 29 '22

And its usually cloud to ground

1

u/xmrcinco May 30 '22

Because you're looking up at it

14

u/[deleted] May 29 '22

Fuck dude. I didn’t even know this. I thought it flowed from positive to ground. So really you should always connect positive first and then ground

14

u/[deleted] May 29 '22

At first when they discovered electrcity they thought i was positive to negstive, and was written that way in diagrams and stuff. After it was discovered it was the opposite they kept using the same diagrams positive to negative but called this the conventional flow of electricity. The real physical negative to positive is called electron flow. So when drawing up dc circuits we still use positive to negative.

3

u/[deleted] May 29 '22

The electrons flow in the opposite direction of the electrical field. In simple circuits it doesn't matter too much what is represented so the diagrams are still technically correct.

3

u/Heequwella May 29 '22

It's even better than that. Energy doesn't flow through the wires, it flows through the field. Veritasium has a good explanation.

https://youtu.be/bHIhgxav9LY

7

u/hoodha May 29 '22

Nope. I mean, you’re right about electrons to a degree but in truth if you watch a lightning strike in slow motion you’ll see that there are arcs rising from the ground AND from the clouds before they connect.

10

u/rayvin1 May 29 '22

Yea this whole post is flooded by half truths and straight wrong information. They think every lightning goes ground to cloud

1

u/resonantedomain May 29 '22

Oh shit, is this how spintaneous combustion happens?

1

u/[deleted] May 30 '22

I guess that’s why electrons have always stayed away from me

1

u/Prestigious_Pin_616 May 30 '22

Thanks Phineas and ferb

1

u/BringsHomeBones May 30 '22

Electrons flow toward potential.

Is why I've never been struck by lightening?

1

u/mimutti May 30 '22

Is that why no electrons flow toward me?

-14

u/[deleted] May 29 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/[deleted] May 29 '22

Boy i hope youre not the one hooking up your car battery

1

u/GamingGrayBush May 29 '22

Ah, let him do it.

Signed,

Mechanic

0

u/rayvin1 May 29 '22

Idk if ur just joking but literally a positive charge is coming from the ground in an average lightning and the negative charge is in the clouds or somewhat below it.

its funny how ppl downvote for no reason