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- Watch the sky for a flash of lightning.
- Count the number of seconds until you hear thunder. If you have a watch with a second hand or a digital watch that has seconds, begin timing as soon as you see the lightning and stop as soon as you hear the thunder start. If you don't have a watch, do your best to count the seconds accurately. Say "One one thousand, two one thousand etc." in your mind for each second.
- Divide the number of seconds by 5 to calculate the distance in miles (or divide by 3 for kilometers). In other words if you counted 18 seconds from when you saw the lightning, the strike was 3.6 miles (6 kilometers) from your location. The delay between when you see lightning and when you hear thunder occurs because sound travels much, much more slowly than light. Sound travels through air at about 1100-1200 feet (330-350 meters) per second (depending on altitude, relative humidity, pressure, etc.), which is a little more than one mile per five seconds (one kilometer per three seconds). In comparison, the speed of light is 983,571,058 feet (299,792,458 meters) per second.
- For example, if lightning strikes a point 1 mile away, you will see the strike approximately .00000536 seconds after the strike while you will hear it approximately 4.72 seconds after the actual strike. If you calculate the difference between these two experiences, a person will hear a strike approximately 4.71999 seconds after the strike actually occurred. Therefore, 5 seconds per mile is a fairly robust approximation.
What else can I help you with?
What would it mean if there were many seconds in between the flash of lightning and the roar of thunder?
If there are many seconds between the flash of lightning and the roar of thunder, it indicates that the storm is far away. Each second of delay between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder represents a distance of about 1 mile between you and the lightning strike.
If you hear thunder 5 s after seeing a flash of lightning the distance to the lightning strike is about?
Roughly 1 mile away. Sound travels at about 1 mile every 5 seconds, so the time difference between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder can give you an estimate of the distance to the lightning strike.
Find the distance from your position to the lightning strike?
To estimate the distance to a lightning strike, count the seconds between the flash and the sound of thunder. Divide this number by 5 to get the distance in miles, or divide by 3 to get the distance in kilometers.
Why is there a delay between the lightning an thunder?
There is a delay between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder because the speed of light (lightning) is much faster than the speed of sound (thunder). Thus, you SEE lightning first, and then you HEAR thunder later.
Why do you hear tunder sound after lightning explain?
You hear thunder after seeing lightning because lightning produces intense heat that causes the air to rapidly expand and create a shock wave. This shock wave is what we hear as thunder. The distance between you and the lightning strike can affect the time gap between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder.
How do you use the word interval in a sentence?
The interval between the wars was often brief, usually simply a period of rearmament. The interval between a lightning flash and the sound of thunder can provide an estimate of a storm's distance from the observer.
What is path difference?
The path difference is the difference in the physical distance between the two sources to the observer, i.e., the difference in distance travelled from the source to the observer.
How can one determine the distance of lightning?
To determine the distance of lightning, count the number of seconds between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder, then divide by 5 to get the distance in miles.
How can I determine the distance of lightning by using the keyword "how to see how far lightning is"?
To determine the distance of lightning, count the seconds between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder. Divide this number by 5 to estimate the distance in miles.
What is the Angle of Elevation for the Colosseum?
The angle of elevation for the Colosseum refers to the angle formed between a horizontal line from an observer's eye level to the top of the structure. This angle varies depending on the observer's distance from the Colosseum and their height. Typically, the angle of elevation increases as one moves closer to the monument. To calculate it accurately, you would need specific measurements of the observer's height and distance from the Colosseum.
How do you calculate lightning distance?
Start counting when you see lightning. Stop counting when you hear thunder. Divide the seconds by 5. Example: You count 19 seconds. 19 divided by 5 would mean the lightning you seen was approximately 3.8 miles away. If you count 30 seconds or less, don't go outside.
How do you calculate the distance of a lightning flash?
Look for the lightning flash, and count the seconds until the thunder is heard. Every 5 seconds equals one mile of distance. While the light appears almost instantly sound travels at about 1200 fps, or roughly 5 seconds per mile. In metric units the speed of sound in air is approximately 330 m/s so every 3 seconds is roughly equivalent to 1 km.
What is the fixed point in the water that you will use for parallax?
The fixed point in the water used for parallax is typically the point on the water's surface directly below the observer's line of sight to an object being measured. This point serves as a reference to determine the angle of elevation or depression from the observer to the object. By measuring the distance between the observer and the fixed point, as well as the distance to the object, one can calculate the object's position using triangulation methods.
Define true zenith distance n meridional zenith distance?
Defining true zenith distance is knowing the difference between Africa and south America.True zenith distance is associated with Greenwich line and meridional zenith distance is defined with the celestial equator which instructs the basin of south america. -AG
What will happen to the loudness if The distance between the source and the observer is doubled?
If the distance between the source and the observer is doubled, the loudness of the sound will decrease by about 6 decibels. This is because sound intensity decreases with the square of the distance from the source due to the spreading out of energy over a larger area as the distance increases.
How is the size of an object affected by its distance from an observer?
As an object moves farther away from an observer, it appears smaller due to perspective, which causes a decrease in angular size. This change in size is a result of the viewing angle between the observer and the object decreasing with distance.
How long does it take to hear thunder after lightning strikes?
The time it takes to hear thunder after lightning strikes is typically about 5 seconds for every mile of distance between you and the lightning.
