Lightning travels at 300,000 kilometers/sec. Thunder travels 330 meters/sec. You can count the time from seeing the lightning to hearing the thunder. The Question: What formula calculates your distance from the lightning strike, as a function of the time gap between lightning strike and thunder arrival?
2006-09-18 15:58:46 · 6 answers · asked by zburleson06 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
i need to know how you got it
2006-09-18 16:02:05 · update #1
Lightning travels so fast you can ignore its speed. Just use the spped of sound. Count the seconds between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder, and multiply by 330 to get how many meters away it was (or divide this by 1000 to get kilometers).
2006-09-18 16:02:28 · answer #1 · answered by hayharbr 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
how long does it take to hear thunder after seeing the lightning?
Lightning travels at 300,000 kilometers/sec. Thunder travels 330 meters/sec. You can count the time from seeing the lightning to hearing the thunder. The Question: What formula calculates your distance from the lightning strike, as a function of the time gap between lightning strike and thunder...
2015-08-10 12:03:46 · answer #2 · answered by Davine 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This phenomenon occurs at the same time as a lightning flash but a thunderclap is usually heard after lightning is seen because light travels faster (186,000 miles / 299,338 kilometers per second) than sound (around 700 miles / 1,126 kilometers per hour but varies depending on temperature, humidity and air pressure.) In very close proximity to the lighting strike, sound and light can be heard and seen almost simultaneously
Since sound and light travel at different speeds through the atmosphere, one can estimate how far away the bolt of lightning is by timing the interval between seeing the flash and hearing the thunder. The speed of sound in air is approximately 332 m/s (742.6 mph). The speed of light is so fast that it can be ignored in this calculation. Therefore, the lightning is approximately one kilometer distant for every 3 seconds (or one mile for every 5 seconds).
2006-09-18 16:10:41 · answer #3 · answered by Mysterious 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The lightning strike and the thunder are actually two different phenomena: Lightning is the sudden discharge of a very large electrical potential difference (tens of thousands of volts) between clouds, or between a cloud and the ground. The discharge ionises the air molecules in a split second; and it is the glow of the ionised gas particles that you see. Lightning also releases a tremendous amount of heat (tens of thousands of degrees) in a split second. The heat not only ionises the air, it also heats it up rapidly, making it expand. It is the noise of the rapidly expanding air you hear as thunder. It continues for some time after the lightning strike; in much the same way as the surface of a pond ripples after you throw a pebble in; even though the pebble was in contact with the surface of the water for only a split second.
2016-03-13 05:27:10 · answer #4 · answered by Holly 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you can use thunder to tell how far away a storm is. Next time you see a storm, 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!
2006-09-18 16:10:28 · answer #5 · answered by Letsee 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1 hundreth of a second.
2006-09-18 16:01:24 · answer #6 · answered by darrenrom9071 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋