What mainly causes the visible flash of lightning?

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Multiple Choice

What mainly causes the visible flash of lightning?

Explanation:
Lightning’s visible flash mainly comes from the air in the channel being heated to incredibly high temperatures by the electrical current. That extreme heating makes the air glow, radiating bright visible light as it becomes a hot plasma. The ionization that forms the plasma helps create the channel, but the brightness you see is primarily thermal radiation from the hot air, not the current itself glowing. Reflected sunlight isn’t involved in the flash.

Lightning’s visible flash mainly comes from the air in the channel being heated to incredibly high temperatures by the electrical current. That extreme heating makes the air glow, radiating bright visible light as it becomes a hot plasma. The ionization that forms the plasma helps create the channel, but the brightness you see is primarily thermal radiation from the hot air, not the current itself glowing. Reflected sunlight isn’t involved in the flash.

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