system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:If electricity takes the path of least resistance, then why does a lightning strike appear to be jagged, and not a straight line?
gpt
Because it is taking the path of least resistance.

It's jumping from charge to charge throughout the air eventually ending up at the ground. If it was a straight beam then it would have to fight it's way through charges that it isn't attracted to.

Imagine the atmosphere like a crowd at a party. You are a bolt of lightning. It might seem like the easiest method is to go straight through the crowd, but in reality, you have to go at different angles to find the gaps between people that are easy to slip through, taking the path of least resistance.