Explain why, the flash of lightning is seen first but the sound of thunder is heard a little later (though lightning and thunder take place in the sky at the same time and same distance from us).
Answers
Answer:
They both occur in pretty much the same moment. That said, while lightning does not occur before thunder, our perception of lightning occurs before our perception of thunder. This is because light and sound move at 2 very different speeds. Light moves at the speed of 299,792,458 meters per second.
Light travels faster than sound
Explanation:
Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge. During lightning, two electrically charged regions in the atmosphere or ground temporarily equalize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of as much as one gigajoule of energy. This discharge may produce a wide range of electromagnetic radiation, from very hot plasma created by the rapid movement of electrons to brilliant flashes of visible light in the form of black-body radiation.
Lightning causes thunder, a sound from the shock wave which develops as gases in the vicinity of the discharge experience a sudden increase in pressure.
Though both occur at the same instance, the speed of light is greater than the speed of sound. So we see lightening first, before we can hear the thunder after a few seconds.