What causes thunder?

Question

What causes thunder?

Answer 1

Thunder is the concussion wave generated when the air immediately outside the lightning bolt is dramatically heated.  The lightning bolt is very hot, and it heats the adjacent air a great amount, and very quickly.  This creates an explosive shock wave that expands outward from the bolt, which we perceive as thunder.

Answer 2

Superheated air that was blasted by the lightning creates a temperature in the air of about 40,000 to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit in the path of the lightning. This is almost as hot as the surface of the sun.

The air around it eventually has to give away with this extreme temperature difference, so the air literally explodes in a shock wave to balance out that extreme temperature difference.....and the shock wave results in the thunder that we hear.

Answer 3

Positive and negative charges slamming into eachother.

Answer 4

                              hi

The sky is filled with electric charge. In a calm sky, the + and - charges are evenly interspersed though out the atmosphere. Therefore, a calm sky has a neutral charge.

Inside a thunderstorm, electric charge is spread out differently. A thunderstorm consists of ice crystals and hailstones. The ice crystals have a + charge, while the hailstones have a - charge. The ice crystals are pushed to the top of the thunderstorm cloud by an updraft. Meanwhile, the hailstones are pushed to the bottom of the thunderstorm by its downdraft. Thus, the thunderstorm's + and - charges are separated into two levels: the + charge at the top and the - charge at the bottom.

During a thunderstorm, the Earth's surface has a + charge. Because opposites attract, the - charge at the bottom of the thunder cloud wants to link up with the + charge of the Earth's surface.

Once the - charge at the bottom of the cloud gets large enough to overcome air resistance, a flow of - charge rushes toward the earth. This is known as a stepped leader. The + charges of the Earth are attracted to this stepped leader, so a flow of + charge moves into the air. When the stepped leader and the + charge from the earth meet, a strong electric current carries + charge up into the cloud. This electric current is known as the return stroke of lightning and is visible to the human eye.

Answer 5

Hot Air VS Cold Air, who's gonna win....it's a tie...thus the BOOM of Thunder!!