They say he can tell how far a t-storm is away by the seconds between the flash of lightning and the rumble of thunder. My question is, what if there are multiple flashes of lightning before the rumble; how does that effect the count?
2006-07-26 12:37:52 · 7 answers · asked by Who 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
You would count from the first flash of lightening to the first sound of thunder, or the last flash of lightening to the end of the sound of thunder.
2006-07-26 12:39:29 · answer #1 · answered by Tammy O 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
The reason this works is because the light gets to you (almost) instantaneously while the thunder is contrained by the speed of sound. Of course, this assumes that there is just one bolt of lightning.
If you see several flashes, they are coming from several bolts, of course. In a storm of any size, it is not likely that all of that lightning is originating from the same place and striking the same spot. Quite the contrary, it's far more likely that the lighting is coming from completely different parts where the charges can build separately... they may even be miles and miles apart!
So if you have multiple flashes, I'd say that you're better off just skipping that instance and waiting for the next bolt of lightning altogether. If you're getting that many flashes, it's probably not that long of a wait!
2006-07-26 19:46:24 · answer #2 · answered by Doctor Why 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is a better way too.
If you fly a kite into the clouds and attach the kite with a thin copper wire instead of string, and place your feet in a bucket of salted water and hold the wire real tight, when you see the flash it will almost instantly kill you as electricity travels almost as fast as light. Then you will hear a sound of yourself falling. You could be recording this whole thing with a waterproof camcorder and people that watch the video after you have passed on to the next life so to speak will be able to calculate the flash timing to the thunder and figure out that this was a stupid experiment to try.
However when you see multiple lightning strikes its time to run not to calculate!!!
Stay dry!!!!
2006-07-26 19:45:03 · answer #3 · answered by MiKe 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Then count from the first flash of lightning you see. The lightning was roughly a mile away for every 5 seconds between lightning and thunder.
2006-07-26 19:41:29 · answer #4 · answered by oceansoflight777 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
first flash, first sound.
2006-07-26 19:41:03 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
you cant tell so dont try
2006-07-26 19:39:34 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dk knw that but good question.it sounds lik sumtin i wil search or u may search it wut ev.
2006-07-26 19:41:35 · answer #7 · answered by LilShortie 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋