Lightning bolts are created by the discharge of static electricity in thunderclouds.

• A. Lightning bolts are unrelated to static electricity.
• B. The discharge of static electricity in thunderclouds creates lightning bolts.
• C. Lightning bolts are caused by magnetic forces in storms.
• D. Lightning bolts are a form of heat transfer.

Answer: (B)

Lightning is the rapid discharge of accumulated electric charge in a storm cloud. In thunderclouds, updrafts and collisions separate charges, creating a strong electric field between different parts of the cloud and between the cloud and the ground. When the air can no longer insulate against this field, it breaks down and becomes ionized, forming a conductive path. The charges then rush through that path in a spark-like discharge, which we see as the lightning bolt and hear as thunder. So the bolt is the electrical discharge of the built-up static electricity in the cloud, not caused by magnetic forces or simply by heat transfer, and it is directly linked to static electricity.