Is thunder the sound lightning bolts make?

Answer 1

No, lightning and thunder are related but at not the same thing. Lightning is the very large spark that jumps from cloud to cloud or from ground to cloud when a static charge builds up.

When that spark jumps, it heats the air through which it moves. Thunder is the sound that results from that heating.
No, lightning is a large electrical discharge produced by a thunderstorm. Lightning is usually visible as a flash of light from within the clouds or a jagged, often branching line of flashing line of light.

Thunder is the loud rumbling, booming, or crashing sound made by lightning.

Answer 2

Yes, lightning travels faster than sound and as it breaks the sound barrier it produces a 'sonic boom,' which is heard as thunder.

I'm not sure of the physics of thunder and lightening but you see the flash before you hear the noise because light travels at 186,000 miles per second whereas sound travels at 1,100 feet per second.

You can work out how far you are from the storm by timing the difference between the flash and the thunder. A lightning strike can heat the air in a fraction of a second. When air is heated that quickly, it expands violently and then contracts, like an explosion that happens in the blink of an eye. It's that explosion of air that creates sound waves, which we hear and call thunder.

Answer 3

yes. not exactly sonic boom - soundwave propogation.

Answer 4

Yes. The electrical energy of a lightning bolt has so much energy that it produces sound waves that make the sound of thunder.

Answer 5

Yes, thunder is the sound produced by the rapid expansion and contraction of air surrounding a lightning bolt as it heats up to temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun.