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Why do you see lightning before you hear thunder when both occur at the same time?
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Lightning causes the thunder, so it actually has to precede the thunder. If you are close to the lightning, they may seem to occur simultaneously. Since light travels faster than sound, the thunder will always lag behind the lightning.
Light moves at 299 million metres per second. Sound moves at 340 metres per second (at sea level in air). When lightning occurs, the light and the creation of the sound occur at the same time and place. Thunder is due to the rapid expansion of superheated air which the lightning causes.
The flash of light (lightning) arrives first because light waves move at roughly a million times faster than sound waves. By counting the seconds between flash and sound (assuming the storm is not so violent that lightning flashes and thunder claps cannot be paired off), you can determine how close it was to you.
In the English system, each 5 seconds difference is about a mile away. In the metric system, every 3 seconds is about a kilometer. Differences in elevation can make this imprecise.
If the flash and sound are simultaneous, the source of the lightning is very close, so you might want to go inside immediately and if possible, not touch anything connected to the house's electrical, Plumbing, or wired telephone systems. If you are outdoors, stay out from under trees and away from tall objects and metal fences. Keep a low profile, even if it means ducking into a ditch.
Remember that electricity seeks the path of least resistance to ground, and the rain that accompanies the lightning enhances that effect, so stay dry and indoors - and avoid conductive systems as described above. THIS IS TOO LONG
Tyreek Marquardt
Wiki User
∙ 7y agoLightning causes the thunder, so it actually has to precede the thunder. If you are close to the lightning, they may seem to occur simultaneously. Since light travels faster than sound, the thunder will always lag behind the lightning.
Light moves at 299 million metres per second. Sound moves at 340 metres per second (at sea level in air). When lightning occurs, the light and the creation of the sound occur at the same time and place. Thunder is due to the rapid expansion of superheated air which the lightning causes.
The flash of light (lightning) arrives first because light waves move at roughly a million times faster than sound waves. By counting the seconds between flash and sound (assuming the storm is not so violent that lightning flashes and thunder claps cannot be paired off), you can determine how close it was to you.
In the English system, each 5 seconds difference is about a mile away. In the metric system, every 3 seconds is about a kilometer. Differences in elevation can make this imprecise.
If the flash and sound are simultaneous, the source of the lightning is very close, so you might want to go inside immediately and if possible, not touch anything connected to the house's electrical, Plumbing, or wired telephone systems. If you are outdoors, stay out from under trees and away from tall objects and metal fences. Keep a low profile, even if it means ducking into a ditch.
Remember that electricity seeks the path of least resistance to ground, and the rain that accompanies the lightning enhances that effect, so stay dry and indoors - and avoid conductive systems as described above. THIS IS TOO LONG
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoLight travels much, much faster than sound.
The time between the lightning and the thunder is directly proportional the the distance of the lightning. I've been told that it's one second per mile, but I've never verified that.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoThunder is produced by the heated air around a lightning bolt, and if the bolt is close enough, the light and sound are simultaneous. But light travels faster than sound (which moves as a wave in air molecules) so the light reaches other observers before the sound does.
You can estimate the distance to a lightning flash by measuring the time it takes for the thunder to arrive, moving at about 1000 feet per second. A 3-second delay is about a kilometer, and every 5 seconds is about a mile.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoLight travels so fast that it reaches you pretty much instantaneously as it happens. Sound travels much slower and so it takes a few seconds to reach you from the distance lightning usually occurs. The closer the lightning, the smaller the delay.
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoWhen lightning comes out of the clouds the clouds open and when the clouds come together again it makes thunder
Anonymous
Anonymous
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoLightning is light and thunder is sound. Light moves faster than sound. Light moves at 186000 miles a second and sound moves at 1126.713 miles a second
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoactually you see lightning before its heard because light travel faster than sound
Anonymous
It's because light travels at 300 000 KM/s, while sound travels at 300 METERS / s... which means the light reaches you way before the sound does! This is also why people usually say you can count seconds to know the distance: if you count, say, 3s from the light to the time you hear the sound, then the storm is at 900m...
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What are the similarities of thunder and lightning?
No, the two are quite different. The main difference is lightning is light, thunder is sound. Lightning is an electric charge that can come from a cloud for various reasons. Thunder is the sound made by lightning. Since sound travels slower than light, lightning comes first, thunder second.
Does lightning always come before thunder?
Thunder and lightning both occur at the same instant. If you are observing them from a distance, then you perceive the lightning first, because the light travels to you much faster than the sound does.Lightning. Its ionization of air is what makes the boom.
Does lightning go from earth to clouds or from clouds to earth?
BOTH of those kinds of lightning occur.
Is thunder stronger than lightning?
No, because lightning is a source of light and electricity. which can cause serious damage to trees, human etc.
What is the difference between lightning and thunder?
Thunder is what you hear, lightning is what you see, but both are due to electrical discharge in the atmosphere. They can seem to be separated in time to an observer (you see the lightening before you hear the thunder) because of the large difference in the speed of sound and the speed of light. If you are significant distance away (a few miles or kilometers), the light from the discharge will reach you almost instantly, but the sound can take several seconds to arrive. In fact you can measure the distance from you to the lightening in this way: for each second delay between seeing it and hearing it, the lightening bolt is approximately 300 meters, or 1000 ft away. Thunder is merely the rumbling sound that lightning creates. You hear the thunder after you see the lighting because light travels faster than sound. Lightning is the light that is emitted, and thunder is the sound.
What is stronger lightning or thunder?
Thunder i guess but lightning make a sound of thunder so it would probably be both!
Is thunder lightning arrester and thunder arrester same?
Thunder and lightning go hand in hand and basically it is the same arrester that works for both. Yes. Thunder lightning arrester and thunder arrested are the same.
What do thunder and lighting have in common?
Thunder and lighting are both products of a thunderstorm. Lighting is a static discharge that usually occurs during a thunderstorm (though it can also occur in some volcanic eruptions) and thunder is the shockwave produced by lightning.
In Pajama Sam 2 is Thunder a boy or a girl?
Thunder and Lightning are both girls.
Why does lightning appear first before thunder when they both happen at once?
Light travels much faster than sound.
What are the similarities of thunder and lightning?
No, the two are quite different. The main difference is lightning is light, thunder is sound. Lightning is an electric charge that can come from a cloud for various reasons. Thunder is the sound made by lightning. Since sound travels slower than light, lightning comes first, thunder second.
Does lightning always come before thunder?
Thunder and lightning both occur at the same instant. If you are observing them from a distance, then you perceive the lightning first, because the light travels to you much faster than the sound does.Lightning. Its ionization of air is what makes the boom.
Which one occur first btw lightning and thunder?
Lightning then thunder. Essentially they're both the same thing at the same time, but light travels faster than sound. You'll see the flash of light before you hear the noise. Using this in between time you can actually calculate how far away from your current location the strike happened. You can see this phenomenon in baseball aswell, you'll see the batter hit the ball before you'll hear the noise of the impact.
Does lightning go from earth to clouds or from clouds to earth?
BOTH of those kinds of lightning occur.
Is thunder stronger than lightning?
No, because lightning is a source of light and electricity. which can cause serious damage to trees, human etc.
What phobia is the fear of lightning?
The fear of lightning is known as astraphobia. It is a specific phobia characterized by an intense fear or anxiety related to thunderstorms and lightning. Symptoms may include sweating, trembling, rapid heartbeat, and avoidance behavior during storms.
Why is lightning seen before sound of thunder is heard even though both occurs simultaneously during thunder storms?
Because the speed of light is faster than the speed of sound. In fact, light arrives at the observer virtually instantaneously, but sound takes almost 5 seconds to travel each mile. It's simple to observe lightening then count seconds until the thunder is heard to estimate the distance.
