What is the electrical discharge from clouds to buildings or a tree ?

Hint:Electric discharge is the process in which flow of charges occur from one body to another body. Electrical discharge from clouds to buildings or a tree is one of the natural phenomena.Lightning is the electrical discharge from clouds to building or a tree.

Complete answer:
Lightning occurs when the accumulation of charges increases in the clouds and clouds cannot resist the discharge of charges. Lightning is produced to balance the differences between positive and negative charges within a cloud, between two clouds or between cloud and the earth.

Basically, lightning is an electric current. Within a cloud many small bits of ice collide with each other as they move around in the air, creating an electric charge. The negative forms at the bottom of the cloud.As we know, opposite charges attract, which causes positive charge to build up on the ground.

The ground electrical charge concentrates over trees and buildings. These charges flow to meet to balance the differences between charges thus producing lightning and thunder. For lightning to occur, a high electric potential between two regions and a high resistant medium must be present.

Note:Lightning causes thunder, a sound from the shock waves. We see the light before we hear the thunder as speed of light is more than speed of sound. There are three common types of lightning: cloud to ground; cloud to air and cloud to cloud. Lightning can be deadly sometimes.