Current debate at work and we can't agree!!
2006-07-22 02:51:07 · 14 answers · asked by J 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
the number of seconds between thunder and lightening.
2006-07-22 02:54:54 · answer #1 · answered by Emily! 4 · 0⤊ 3⤋
As soon as you see lightning start counting, 1-1000, 2-1000, 3-1000, so on, until you hear it thunder. The storm is approximately 1 mile away for every second, so if you counted to 10 before it thundered, the storm would be about 10 miles away. This is just an approximation. There is no way to tell exactly how far the storm is unless you look at radar that has distance grids on it.
2006-07-22 11:01:14 · answer #2 · answered by The Nana of Nana's 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Count seconds ("one hippopotamus, two hippopotamus ..." or I count SLOWLY "one ..and .. two ... and ... three ...") from the lightning flash to the thunder and divide by 5. That will tell you how many miles away it is (sound travels at approximately a mile in 5 seconds - actually, if you reckon the speed of sound as around 770 mph, just a little less than 5 seconds - 770 / 3 600 = 0.213888889 miles per second or 4.67532467 seconds per mile).
This will vary with the air temperature and much more with the wind direction.
Edit: I do see what you mean about people not agreeing by the answers on here! Believe me, mine is the most accurate so far (barring edits, lol)!
2006-07-22 02:56:39 · answer #3 · answered by Owlwings 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Count the number of seconds between when you see the lightning and hear the thunder. Take the number of seconds and divide by 5 and that will tell you how far away the storm is in miles. For example: If you counted 10 seconds between the lightning and the thunder, the lightning is 2 miles away!
To count seconds, if you aren't using a stopwatch, then say 'One one thousand, two thousand, three three thousand..and so on'
Each count of the number and the thousand is one second approximately.
2006-07-22 08:08:54 · answer #4 · answered by 3 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
One way is to look at a lightning detection website, but the more direct way is to count the time which elapses between a flash of lightning and the thunder you hear from it - Each second represents a fifth of a mile, so if you count 10 seconds the lightning was two miles away.
By the way it's NOT one second per mile - Sound travels at 1100 feet per second, which is only a fifth of a mile, so it's FIVE seconds per mile.
2006-07-22 02:56:01 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hi you count how many seconds after you here thunder, till you her another thunder clap. The shorter the seconds the closer the thunder is and the longer the seconds the further away it is.
2006-07-22 03:01:13 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depending on air pressure etc, it usually works out at a mile for every second between the lightening and the thunder.
2006-07-22 02:54:31 · answer #7 · answered by India 55 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You count the seconds between lightning and thunder and you divide it by 3.
2006-07-22 02:56:56 · answer #8 · answered by The Phantom 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
count the amount of seconds in between the flash and the thunder,thats how many miles away it is!
2006-07-22 02:55:18 · answer #9 · answered by ♥cozicat♥ 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
count the seconds between a lightning strike and the corresponding clap of thumnder, 1 mile per second
2006-07-22 02:54:55 · answer #10 · answered by Dagblastit 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋