-ve and +ve bolts

[Lauren]

I understand that +ve bolts are generally much stronger than -ve ones and tend to come from the top of the anvil. But is there anyway for knowing for sure which is which or is just educated guessing. How do we know what we think is a +ve bolt isn't just a really big -ve one for example?

[Mapantz]

I understand that +ve bolts are generally much stronger than -ve ones and tend to come from the top of the anvil. But is there anyway for knowing for sure which is which or is just educated guessing. How do we know what we think is a +ve bolt isn't just a really big -ve one for example?

It is widely known that it's virtually impossible to tell the difference by using the human eye but most decent lightning detectors can differentiate between positive and negative strikes.Most lightning occurs when the bottom of the cloud is negatively charged and the ground is positively charged. If the poles reverse in the cloud, a positive strike occurs.

[Guest]

Here is an example of what was believed to be positive lightning:

 

http://www.damninteresting.com/the-power-of-positive-lightning/

[Lauren]

Why are +very bolts so much stronger though?

[Mapantz]

Why are +very bolts so much stronger though?

The electric field where it occurs is much stronger than the negative region. Lightning from the negative region usually contains somewhere between 10 million to 100 million volts, the positive strikes can be in excess of 1 billion volts

[Lauren]

Blimey!