# Why doesn't lightning travel in a straight line? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-lightning-travel-in-a-straight-line/662991 "2013-07-09T00:43:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-lightning-travel-in-a-straight-line/662991/1 "2013-07-09T00:43:59Z")
Supposedly the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. I always that that lightning was buildup of electrical energy that arced between the point where it built up in the atmosphere and the most available point. If that point is on earth why doesn’t the lightening go straight there instead of oftentimes taking a lot of weird angles? It’s interesting to watch but I’d like to know why it looks like it does. ---
**Author:** ![runningdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@runningdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runningdude)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-lightning-travel-in-a-straight-line/662991/2 "2013-07-09T00:55:10Z")
Imperfections in the air such as dust, interference from the earth’s magnetic field, irregularly shaped origin or destination, etc. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-lightning-travel-in-a-straight-line/662991/3 "2013-07-09T00:55:33Z")
Lightning has two stages. There’s a faint downward stroke that fans out in all directions, and then a strong upward stroke when one of the many tendrils of the downward stroke finds ground. The jagged path of the upward stroke reflects one path backwards through the initial tree of tendrils. https://player.vimeo.com/video/28457062 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-lightning-travel-in-a-straight-line/662991/4 "2013-07-09T01:43:01Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > Supposedly the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. I always that that lightning was buildup of electrical energy that arced between the point where it built up in the atmosphere and the most available point. If that point is on earth why doesn’t the lightening go straight there instead of oftentimes taking a lot of weird angles? It’s going along the path of least electrical resistance. As said, the downward tendrils “feel” their way down, moving _though_ low resistance spots in the air and _around_ higher resistance areas\*; then the big upward bolt flashes through the ground-to-sky path one of them has established. \*For a rough analogy, imagine a trickle of water flowing down a rough sloped surface; it flows around the bumps, and through the indentations. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-lightning-travel-in-a-straight-line/662991/5 "2013-07-09T01:59:41Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > Supposedly the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. I always that that lightning was buildup of electrical energy that arced between the point where it built up in the atmosphere and the most available point. If that point is on earth why doesn’t the lightening go straight there instead of oftentimes taking a lot of weird angles? While the shortest distance is a straight line, electricity is more interested in the path of least resistance. Which will be affected by the above mentioned dust and debris in the atmosphere and other factors that I’m not up to speed on. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-lightning-travel-in-a-straight-line/662991/6 "2013-07-09T02:03:00Z")
there is so much energy to dissipate that it has to take multiple paths. the example of water dumped on a dirt pile is a good one. the flow goes where it can, when it can, if it finds resistance it finds a way. it goes until it’s all as low as it can go. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-lightning-travel-in-a-straight-line/662991/7 "2013-07-09T12:58:23Z")
See [Lichtenberg figure,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichtenberg_figure) of which lightning is one kind. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-lightning-travel-in-a-straight-line/662991/8 "2013-07-09T23:30:43Z")
Another feature of the water-on-dirt analogy: Once the water starts flowing down a particular path, it’ll tend to wear away the dirt along that path, which in turn makes it easier for more water to continue to follow that path. Similarly, the path the lightning takes initially will become ionized from the heat, which will make it more conductive, which will make the stroke continue to travel along that path.