Thunder and Lightnig???

Question

Is it lightning then thunder or is it thunder first then lightning?

Answer 1

Lightning, then thunder.  Thunder is the result of lightning, therefore it can't exist before its cause.

Thunder is the noise that results from the air being superheated after a lightning strike.

Answer 2

since light travels faster than sound it's lightning first and then thunder

Answer 3

Thunder is the noise of the lightning discharge. Lightning occurs first and thunder follows immediately.The time difference is only a fraction of a second.Lightning is seen first as the speed of light is more than that of the sound.

Answer 4

they happen at the same time, but light travels faster than sound so you see the lightning before you hear the thunder.

Answer 5

They happen at the same time. The noise of the thunder is caused by the massive amouts of energy in a bolt of lightning. The reason we see the lightning before we hear the thunder is that light travels a lot faster than sound.

The reason that the time delay between the two can vary is because if the storm is close the lightning and thunder are closer together but if the storm is far away the lightning can be a long way ahead of the thunder.

Answer 6

Speed of light is more than 670 million miles per hour.

Speed of sound approx. 770 miles per hour.

Therefore lightning before thunder.

If you count the number of seconds between the lightning flash and the thunder, then divide by three, this will give you approximately how far away the storm is in kilometers. Or divide by five for miles.

A thunderstorm is seldom heard from more than 20 miles (32km.) away.

Answer 7

you see the lightning first then hear the thunder.

Answer 8

thunder is caused by the sudden heating of the air by lightning. the heat makes molecules of air along the lightning's channel expand and collide with cool molecules. this sets up a wave which creates the rumbling sound of thunder. hence lightning first because light travels faster than sound.

Answer 9

Lightning then thunder.

When I was a kid we would watch the lightning then count 1 Mississippi 2 Mississippi and so on till we heard the thunder and would tell you how far away the storm was. This is an Old Indian trick my grandpa taught me. Believe it or not, it works!

Answer 10

Thunder follows lightning.   It happens as a consequence of supercharged particles in the atmosphere.   Large amounts of positive and negative charges build up and when there is a big enough difference in the two, you get an electrical charge and thus lightning.