2007-01-14 09:01:52 · 26 answers · asked by hksummers2004 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
They happen at the same time. But since light travels faster than sound, you see the lightning before you hear the thunder.
2007-01-14 09:07:37 · answer #1 · answered by ralfg33k 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Thunder Or Lightning First
2017-01-05 05:48:38 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The passage of lightning through the air heats the air and it expands very rapidly. This sudden expansion sets up a shockwave that you hear as thunder. Without lightning there is no thunder. The further away from the storm you are, the longer it takes the shockwave to reach you. The light from the lightning reaches you at the speed of light while the shockwave travels at the speed of sound. If you count between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder you can work out how far away the lightning is. Three seconds a kilometre is the general rule so if there is a gap of nine seconds between the flash and the bang the storm is three kilometres away.
2007-01-14 09:11:08 · answer #3 · answered by tentofield 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Thunder is the result of lightning. Lightning super-heats the air around it, causing it to instantly expand. That generates the sound wave that you hear as thunder. They happen at almost the same instant. If you are a few miles away, the light reaches you before the sound. As other answers have observed, light travels much faster than sound. Back on the farm, old-timers would count how long it took for the sound to reach them after they saw the lightning strike. That gave them an understanding of how far away it was. The greater the time gap, the greater the distance traveled.
2007-01-14 09:14:11 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Thunder follows lightning.
2007-01-14 09:06:18 · answer #5 · answered by jack w 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
What comes first? Thunder or lightning and why?
2015-08-15 12:24:56 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lightning comes first. You see the flash and then you hear the thunder, BOOM! The speed of light is faster than the speed of sound, that's why. There's lightning when ion particles form in the air, meaning that there is static between the ground and the clouds, which is where the lightning comes from.
2007-01-14 09:27:25 · answer #7 · answered by Melody 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lightning travels faster than Thunder.
The reason is that Light travels faster than Sound.
Which means Lightning is faster. (light-sound)
Just remember that L is before S in the alphabet.
2007-01-14 09:12:00 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lightning comes first. Thunder is the sound that the lightning makes. Light travels faster than sound.
2007-01-14 09:07:18 · answer #9 · answered by ponysense 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Thunder is the sound of air being split apart due to the temperature of the lightning.
The lightning will always come first.
2007-01-14 09:10:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋