Jonathan Nevala, age 14, of Tower, Minnesota, for his question:

Is lightning positive or negative?

Lightning is triggered by opposite charges of positive and negative electricity. The turbulent storm cloud strips electrons from gaseous atoms and molecules, producing fields of electrically charged ions. The negative ions are negatively charged elec¬trons. The shorn atoms and molecules become positive ions. Vast fields of these opposite ions build up a need to restore their normal electrical balance. This driving energy factor is readjusted with a sudden electrical discharge of dynamic proportions    a flash of lightning. As a rule, a flash of lightning is several flashing discharges following each other along the same searing streak across the sky. Many such flashes may be needed to discharge the opposing positive and negative build ups in different regions of the turbulent storm.

The lightning itself is neither positive nor negative, though it is an electrical discharge triggered by these opposite forces. Its streaking energy is direct  current and not the jogging alternating current we use in our power systems. It takes  about half an ampere of AC or DC current to run a reading lamp. A lightning flash  may discharge a current of 100,000 amperes to slash a gash through the resisting air  of a moist cloud and travel as much as ten miles.