When lightning strikes do you hear first?

When lightning strikes do you hear first?

Although a lightning discharge usually strikes just one spot on the ground, it travels many miles through the air. When you listen to thunder, you’ll first hear the thunder created by that portion of the lightning channel that is nearest you.

Why do we see the lightning first and hear the thundering sound later?

Lightning is seen earlier and thunder is heard later because the speed of sound is 330 m/s and the speed of light is 300,000,000 m/s. Light travels faster than a sound. Thus, light from the lightning reaches first to you. The sound from the lightning takes longer to reach and hence heard later.

What are the 3 stages of lightning?

Lots of these collisions build up big regions of electric charges to cause a bolt of lightning, which creates the sound waves we hear as thunder. Thunderstorms have three stages in their life cycle: The developing stage, the mature stage, and the dissipating stage.

Does lightning come first or thunder?

Lightning always comes with thunder. If you see a lightning flash but cannot hear any thunder, the thunderstorm is most likely be quite far away from you. The thunder clap must have been deflected up the sky. The longer the sound travels, the more it will be deflected away from the ground.

Which comes first lightning or sound?

If we are watching the sky, we see the lightning before we hear the thunder. That is because light travels much faster than sound waves. It takes approximately 5 seconds for the sound to travel 1 mile. If the thunder follows the lightning almost instantly, you know the lightning is too close for comfort!

How a lightning is formed?

How is a Lightning Bolt Formed? Because opposites attract, the negative charge at the bottom of the storm cloud wants to link up with the ground’s positive charge. Once the negative charge at the bottom of the cloud gets large enough, a flow of negative charge called a stepped leader rushes toward the Earth.

What is the sound of lightning?

Thunder
Thunder is the sound produced by lightning.