Does lightning travel at the speed of sound?

Lightning travels at the speed of light, about 186,000 miles per second. Thunder travels much slower, at the speed of sound, about 1088 feet per second. It takes sound about 5 seconds to travel one mile.

What speed does lightning move at?

1. The speed of lightning. While the flashes we see as a result of a lightning strike travel at the speed of light (670,000,000 mph) an actual lightning strike travels at a comparatively gentle 270,000 mph.

Is sound faster than light because we hear thunder before we see lightning?

The reason we see a flash of lightning before hearing thunder is because light travels faster than sound. The speed of light depends on what it is moving through – being slow in gases, fast in liquids, and even quicker in solids. In the air, sound travels at around 332 metres per second.

Why do we see lightning first and then after some time hear the sound of thunder?

If we are watching the sky, we see the lightning before we hear the thunder. That is because light travels much faster than sound waves. We can estimate the distance of the lightning by counting how many seconds it takes until we hear the thunder. It takes approximately 5 seconds for the sound to travel 1 mile.

Which is faster light speed or lightning speed?

Although light emitted from the lightning does travel at the speed of light, the actual developing lightning leaders, and the massive surge of current that you see as the actual lightning strike, only travel at 1\% to 10\% of the speed of light, so light is 10 – 100 times “faster” than lightning.

Whats faster lightning or light?

The average speed of lightning is not as fast as the speed of light, which is 299,792,458 meters per second.

Why can I hear thunder but not see lightning?

Thunder starts as a shockwave from the explosively expanding lightning channel when a large current causes rapid heating. However, it is possible that you might see lightning and not hear the thunder because it was too far away. Sometimes this is called “heat lightning” because it occurs most often in the summer.

Why do we hear the sound of thunder few seconds after we saw the lightning?

Lightning is seen earlier and thunder is heard later because the speed of sound is 330 m/s and the speed of light is 300,000,000 m/s. Light travels faster than a sound. Thus, light from the lightning reaches first to you. The sound from the lightning takes longer to reach and hence heard later.

Does lightning have a sound?

This rapid expansion and contraction creates the sound wave that we hear as thunder. Although a lightning discharge usually strikes just one spot on the ground, it travels many miles through the air. The loud boom that you sometimes hear is created by the main lightning channel as it reaches the ground.

What does thunder and lightning sound like?

With nearby lightning strikes the thunder will sound like a loud bang, crack or snap and its duration will be very short. As the shock wave propagates away from the strike center, it stretches, diminishes, and becomes elongated. Then other shock waves from more distance locations arrive at the listener.

Why do we see lightning before we hear it?

The intense heat of the lightning generates a sound called thunder which is transmitted through the air at the speed of sound. Because the speed of sound is so much slower than the speed of light, we always see the flash before we hear the thunder.

How far away does Lightning sound when it strikes?

If the thunder sounds more like a rumble, the lightning was at least several miles away. The loud boom that you sometimes hear is created by the main lightning channel as it reaches the ground.

What is the sound of lightning called?

Understanding Lightning: Thunder. Thunder is the sound caused by a nearby flash of lightning and can be heard for a distance of only about 10 miles from the lightning strike. The sound of thunder should serve as a warning to anyone outside that they are within striking distance of the storm and need to get to a safe place immediately!

How does Lightning travel through the air?

Light travels at a constant 186,000 miles/second, which means that we see the flash immediately as it happens. The intense heat of the lightning generates a sound called thunder which is transmitted through the air at the speed of sound.