Speed of Light / Sound?

Question

Can you determine how far away a storm is by the amount of time it takes to hear thunder after you see the lightning? When I was a kid someone told me 1 mile for every second. Does that sound about right for guesstimating?

Answer 1

When you see a flash, count how many seconds until you hear the thunder.  Divide the number of seconds by 5 to get the distance in miles from the lightning to you.

Remember, of course, that thunderstorms are an average of about 15 miles across, so just because one lightning bolt was far away doesn't mean that the next one will be far away too.

Answer 2

The speed of sound at sea level is roughly 340 metres per second, depending on temperature. That's 0.2113 miles per second.

So if you time the gap between the lightning and the thunder in seconds, divide that by ~4.75 to get the distance away in miles. For a general idea, just divide by 5 (which is easier in your head if you multiply by 10 and divide by 2).

Answer 3

I was always told, count the number of seconds between the flash and the thunder, and divide by 3 to get the rough distance in kilometers.

Answer 4

its true, I cant remeber the exact method, but if you do a little googling you will find out very fast...

Answer 5

yes that does work, i tried it! i saw lighting then i counted to 4! a couple of minutes later bam bam bam!!! thunder storm!!!!

Answer 6

That is what I heard to.

Answer 7

Sound is as fast as 340 meters per second. By exemple, if it takes you to hear 1/2 seconds, then the storm will be as far as  340 / 2 meters. If it takes you to hear 5 seconds, the storm will be as fas as 340 x 5 = 1700 meters, aproximately a mile.

Answer 8

For the conditions we are subjected to (normal conditions), sound travels at about 331.3m/second or 1 kilometer every three seconds. Since a mile is 1.6km, sound takes 5 seconds (apprx) for a mile.

Answer 9

you can use thunder to tell how far away a storm is. Next time you see a storm, count the number of seconds between when you see the lightning and hear the thunder. Take the number of seconds and divide by 5 and that will tell you how far away the storm is in miles. For example: If you counted 10 seconds between the lightning and the thunder, the lightning is 2 miles away!

Answer 10

That sound right for an approximation

Answer 11

nah

Answer 12

it goes fast. if the sun was to burn out we would still get light from it for 7 minutes while the light is still burning out

Answer 13

It can vary with the density of the air.  But, that is essentially correct.  Sound travels at around one mile per second.

Answer 14

the speed of sound is 343 m/s (1235 km/h, or 770 mph, or 1129 ft/s, or approximately 5 seconds per mile)

Answer 15

no