that when lighting strikes, if you count the seconds til it thunders, that is how far away the storm is, or is it how far the lighting is... and which comes first, thunder or the lighting?
2007-03-27 05:52:11 · 8 answers · asked by Hotonic 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
If you see lightning strike, and then count the seconds till you hear the thunder, the storm is approximately a mile away for every five seconds. Five seconds, about one mile.....ten seconds, about two miles.
2007-03-27 06:01:51 · answer #1 · answered by bluehog88 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Light travels a lot faster than sound does, so you are going to see the flash of lightning before you hear the thunder.
Generally, if a storm is three or more miles away you won't hear the thunder associated with the lightning because of the distance, but of course, it isn't always the case. The sound of thunder travels about 1 mile in five seconds. So if you see a bolt of lightning, and say you count to 8 and then hear the thunder, that would mean the storm is roughly 1.6 miles away. Just count the seconds between the flash and the thunder, then divide that number by 5 seconds, and you will get an estimate of how far away the storm is in miles.
2007-03-27 18:56:48 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Sound travel about 1 mile every 5 seconds. Ex. 3 sec=15 miles from that lightning strike. The lightning always comes first. Because thunder is the sound of the air heated up rapidly and expanding at the speed of sound.
2007-03-28 15:34:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes it is. You see the lightning then count until you hear the thunder and divide by 5 and that's how many miles the lightning is from your location. The speed of light is greater than the speed of sound.
2007-03-27 06:01:28 · answer #4 · answered by hvykey 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That will tell you how far the actual lightning bolt was from your location. The light from the strike gets to you in microseconds, the sound takes 5 seconds to reach you for every mile of distance.
2007-03-27 07:53:07 · answer #5 · answered by indiana_jones_andthelastcrusade 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Since light travels a LOT faster than sound, it's the lightning you sense first.
2007-03-27 06:02:16 · answer #6 · answered by outlaw_tattoo_biker 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes each second is one mile because that must be how fast sound travels :P
2007-03-27 06:01:24 · answer #7 · answered by jameskelowna 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes because every sound is one mile and it means how fast sound travel.
hope best answer
2007-03-27 08:55:13 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋