Thunder is sound- it travels at the speed of sound- about 1100 feet per second. Lightning is light- it travels at the speed of light- about 186,000 miles a second. The light is faster, gets there first.
Thunder - is the result of a lightning flash. The flash causes the surrounding air to move away from the source at 300 metres/second. An approximate calculation for the relationship between the lightning flash to hearing the thunder, is 5 seconds per mile.
Surely you have heard thunder and seen lightening during a storm - what you can see and measure is fact not myth.
Light travels faster than sound
When lightning appears in the remote distance and appears to produce no thunder sound, it is popularly known as "heat lightning." Meteorologists will tell you that there really is no such thing as a distinct type of lightning that is not followed by thunder. All lightning produces thunder, but it is only audible for a distance of some 15-20 miles from the storm. At night, lightning can be seen for distances of up to 125 miles if the conditions are right. So when lightning is seen but no thunder is heard, you are simply too far away from the storm.
While lightning produces very high temperatures, the amount of air it heats is fairly small. In most cases a bolt of lightning is a few miles away, too far away to feel the heat. People have felt the heat from lightning, but only when it struck dangerously close.
Yes No, lightening is seen before thunder is heard.
Sound (thunder) travels much much slower than light (lightning flash).
Light travels faster than sound. This causes the lightning flash to be seen first, with thunder taking longer to be heard.
Because light travels much faster than sound.
the lightning was 0.8 miles away.
Thunder - is the result of a lightning flash. The flash causes the surrounding air to move away from the source at 300 metres/second. An approximate calculation for the relationship between the lightning flash to hearing the thunder, is 5 seconds per mile.
Surely you have heard thunder and seen lightening during a storm - what you can see and measure is fact not myth.
Light travels faster than sound
When lightning appears in the remote distance and appears to produce no thunder sound, it is popularly known as "heat lightning." Meteorologists will tell you that there really is no such thing as a distinct type of lightning that is not followed by thunder. All lightning produces thunder, but it is only audible for a distance of some 15-20 miles from the storm. At night, lightning can be seen for distances of up to 125 miles if the conditions are right. So when lightning is seen but no thunder is heard, you are simply too far away from the storm.
When lightning appears in the remote distance and appears to produce no thunder sound, it is popularly known as "heat lightning." Meteorologists will tell you that there really is no such thing as a distinct type of lightning that is not followed by thunder. All lightning produces thunder, but it is only audible for a distance of some 15-20 miles from the storm. At night, lightning can be seen for distances of up to 125 miles if the conditions are right. So when lightning is seen but no thunder is heard, you are simply too far away from the storm.
Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Also the speed of light travels much faster than the speed of sound, so people should see lightning before they hear thunder.
Because the speed of light is faster than the speed of sound.