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Because light travels more quickly than sound. Lightning may strike 1 mile from where you are and then 5 seconds later you will hear thunder. But if you were very close to where the lightning strikes, than you will hear the thunder at the same time as you see the lightning. Does that make sense?
What else can I help you with?
How many seconds do you need to find the miles to the lightning?
To find the miles to the lightning, you can count the number of seconds between seeing the flash and hearing the thunder (time interval). Divide this number by 5 to get the distance in miles, as sound travels at about 1 mile every 5 seconds.
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.
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.
How can you determine how far lightning is away from sound?
You can determine how far away lightning is by counting the seconds between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder, and then dividing by 5 to get the distance in miles or by 3 to get the distance in kilometers. Sound travels at a speed of about 1 kilometer per 3 seconds or 1 mile per 5 seconds.
Can you tell how close a storm is by the thunder?
Roughly. Count the seconds between the time you see the lightning and the time you hear the thunder. Since sound travels slower than light, the thunder LAGS the lightning more the farther it travels. The speed of light is so high that it's OK to assume that it reaches you in no time. So the lag between the lightning and the thunder is just the time it takes for the sound to reach you. On paper, all you'd need to know is the speed of sound. Unfortunately, it varies quite a bit depending on atmospheric conditions ... particularly temperature ... and is especially variable around thunderstorms. PLUS -- in the unstable, nonhomogeneous atmosphere around thunderstorms, the sound most likely travels a curved path to you, which is a bit longer than if it traveled straight. But let's ignore all of that, and use the time-lag of the thunder to roughly calculate how far away from you the lightning strike was. With the air temperature in the mid-70's, the speed of sound is about 1125 ft (343 m) per second. If you accurately count the seconds between the appearance of the lightning and the beginning of the sound of thunder, you can translate that number roughly into 1 mile of distance for every 4.7 seconds, or 1 kilometer of distance for every 2.9 seconds.
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.
How many seconds behind is the thunder before the lightning?
Light is virtually instantaneous over any distance you'd be aware of a thunderstorm going on. Sound, however, takes five seconds to travel through air for each mile. If the thunder and the lightning are simultaneous, the lightning strike is very close to you. If the thunder is five seconds after the lightning, the lightning was one mile away. If the thunder is ten seconds after the lightning, the lightning was 2 miles away, and so on.
What is a simple way to estimate how far away lightning?
First, watch for lightning. The second it hits the ground, starts counting in seconds. Stop when you hear thunder. divide the seconds by 5 to get how many miles away the lightning is. For kilometers, divide the seconds by 3.
Does thunder flash 5 mins after lightning?
No, thunder actually happens simultaneously with lightning. The sound of thunder is created by the rapid expansion and contraction of the air surrounding a lightning bolt. The time it takes for you to hear thunder after seeing lightning depends on how far away the lightning strike is. Every 5 seconds between seeing a lightning flash and hearing the thunder equals approximately 1 mile of distance.
How do you figure the distance of storms from you?
If it is a thunderstorm, you check how long it takes to hear the thunder after you see a lightning strike. For every five seconds, the lightning strike is about one mile away. The lightning causes the thunder, and the sound travels at a speed of about one mile per five seconds.
How many seconds do you need to find the miles to the lightning?
To find the miles to the lightning, you can count the number of seconds between seeing the flash and hearing the thunder (time interval). Divide this number by 5 to get the distance in miles, as sound travels at about 1 mile every 5 seconds.
How do you tell how far away a storm is?
To tell how far away a storm is note the seconds between the appearance of lightning and the sound of thunder. Every second between lightning and thunder represents one mile.
How do you calculate how far a storm is away?
After you here thunder every 6 seconds until the next lightning strike it is a mile.
How do you estimate how far lightning is away from you?
To estimate your distance from a thunderstorm count the number of seconds between a flash of lightning and the next clap of thunder. Divide your answer by 5. See the related link below.
How can I determine how close lightning is using a specific method or tool?
To determine how close lightning is using a specific method or tool, you can count the seconds between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder. For every 5 seconds you count, the lightning is approximately 1 mile away.
How many miles away is the lightning when you count 40 sec from when you saw the lightning until when you hard the thunder?
What I do know is it takes 5 seconds for the sound waves to travel 1 mile.So, if it's 5 seconds per mile, take 40 seconds and divide by 5 and the answer is 8 miles. That means if you count 40 seconds and hear the thunder, the flash was 8 miles away.One more thing, every second, the sound travels .2 miles.
What is the actual method for finding the distance you are from the storm using lightning and thunder?
For a long time it was thought by many people that the number of seconds after the lightning strikes is the miles the center of the storm is from you. Although this does show how light travels faster than sound, this system is wrong. The actual method for finding the distance the heart of the storm is from you is by counting after you see lightning; and stop counting after you hear the thunder. Now, for every five seconds after the lightning struck until you hear the thunder, it is one mile away. So if ten seconds go by between lightning and thunder, the center of the storm is two miles away.
