Question on thunderstorms?

Question

I'm listening to a thunderstorm outside (i love thunderstorms, they rock!) and I know how the light happens with the warm and cold and atoms making electricity...but how does the thunder happen? How does it make such a loud noise?

Answer 1

when lighting strikes the surrounding air expands very fast causing the pressure and temperature to go up, and creates a shock wave which make that loud noisee.

Answer 2

Hey! The lightning heat is soooo intense that the air around it rushes away, and the sound we hear is the air around us rushing to fill that gaping hole of air around the lightning.

Answer 3

Have you ever cracked a whip.the lash cuts through the air leaving a gap.The air rushing back into the gap makes the crack. When lightening strikes it leaves a far longer gap for the air to fill, as a rumble of thunder. I love to watch it.

Answer 4

The electricity of the lightning forces the air molecules to part. When the electricity dissipates, the air molecules slam back together making the loud boom. The closer it is to your ear, the louder it is.

Jets do the same thing, only with motion, not electricity. They force the air apart, and then it slams back together behind the jet causing a sonic boom.

Answer 5

A little complicated but here it goes.  Lightning heats the air around the bolt to high temperatures (hotter than the surface of the sun)  When the bolt is gone the air rapidly cools.  Heated air expands and cooled air contracts.  This rapid expansion and contraction causes the air molecules to move back and thus creating a sound wave.  If you are close to the lightning you hear a sharp crack and kaboom.  If you are further away you hear rolling and rumbling after the initial crack and kaboom, this is because now you are hearing reflected and bounced sound waves.