Why is the thunder longer than the flash?

Why does the sound of thunder take so much longer to stop than the flash, which we see only a split second?





(note: I'm not asking why the thunder arrives later)Why is the thunder longer than the flash?
sythyril has the best of the answers so far. You can learn a lot from the reference about how lightning works.





Most lightning flashes occur in less than 1 second. Light is produced during the entire duration of the electric discharge. Light from the nearest and farthest points of discharge reach you within microsends of each other. Reflections may take a few more microseconds. Even if your eye and brain could detect this delay, they would expect the differences based on where the light is coming from.





The sound is produced for a longer time. By the time the discharge is finished, the air is still expanding and water droplets are still boiling. As this effect subsides, you get more sound from the secondary effect, the air cooling, the steam condensing, and the atmosphere collapsing back in on the discharge column. A large lightning strike makes sound for several seconds.





The sound takes many more different paths to reach you. The speed of sound varies with air temperature. Wind can raise or lower it. The variation here is seconds, not microseconds. Because sound has a much much longer wavelength than light, stereoscopic hearing is much less effective than stereoscopic vision. You can't tell which sound is coming from which direction.Why is the thunder longer than the flash?
All of sound travels at a lower frequency than light. Because sound uses a much lower frequency it must take longer to transmit or receive a bit of information than say light.





What is the information in this case? That lightning just struck. You have two methods of gathering the information through light or through sound.





This is why everyone wants fiber optics to the home, because light has a higher frequency and can transmit much more information per unit of time than say the electrical signals in copper.





This is why FM comes in stero and why AM doesn't because FM transmits at a higher frequency and can transmit much more information (2 channels).





I hope this makes sense...
b/c light travels faster, if a fast car goes past you and a turtle goes past you, you see the turtle a longer amount of time . also light doesnt echo
Just because light travels at higher speed than sound.
For starters sound travels alot slower then light ( look at any basic high school physics book) Then some people would argue about this being redone it the rate of change of the matter involved. Hot air colliding with cold for the thunder and a unbalance of the charges that causes the lighting.
because a lightning stroke can be several miles long, the sound from the closest part will reach you sooner than the sound from the further part.





Roughly 5 seconds for each mile.





Yes, echoes also play a part.
Echoes, mostly. If you're very close to a lightning strike the sound is incredibly loud but very brief in duration.





Thunder also lasts slightly longer due to reverberations in the hot air near the path of the lightning after the lightning is gone, but this effect only lasts for a few hundredths of a second. It's mostly echo.
Because there are two very different phenomena involved.





The light you see is an emission as air molecules are ionized (i.e., stripped of electrons) As such it lasts only as long as the current is flowing.





The sound you hear is from air rushing in to fill the reduction of air volume within the former body of the bolt. As this air rushes in from from every side it collides and produces sound. This situation takes a little while to reach equilibrium as it is quite chaotic, which is why thunder lasts longer.
light travles faster than sound rite and lighting comes before the thunder
The sound of thunder is from lightning discharges .. one bang from each discharge... they reverberate among the clouds giving rise to the long, rolling sound....Notice that it diminishes as it echoes from clouds further away.
because thunder is thunder and the flash is lightening
The flash of a lightning strike and resulting thunder occur at roughly the same time. But light travels at 186,000 miles in a second, almost a million times the speed of sound. Sound travels at the slower speed of one-fifth of a mile in the same time. So the flash of lightning is seen before thunder is heard. By counting the seconds between the flash and the thunder and dividing by 5, you can estimate your distance from the strike (in miles). But why does lightning cause thunder at the same time it strikes?





Lightning causes thunder because a strike of lightning is incredibly hot. A typical bolt of lightning can immediately heat the air to between 15,000 to 60,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That's hotter than the surface of the sun!


A lightning strike can heat the air in a fraction of a second. When air is heated that quickly, it expands violently and then contracts, like an explosion that happens in the blink of an eye. It's that explosion of air that creates sound waves, which we hear and call thunder.





When lightning strikes very close by, we hear the thunder as a loud and short bang. We hear thunder from far away as a long, low rumble.





Lightning always produces thunder. When you see lightning but don't hear any thunder, the lightning is too far away from you for the sound waves to reach you.





Light and sound will always move at different speeds. And lightning will always produce thunder because of a strike's high temperature. So no matter what, you will always see a flash of lightning before you hear thunder.





Dr. H
I thought it was because of the ';speed of light';.
because sound travels slower than light, so it takes longer to pass you

How can I make the caramelldansen flash?

I really need help! I want to make a caramelldansen flash but I don't know how. Can someone please help?!How can I make the caramelldansen flash?
Ok by flash I donno but i know how to make a video like the poeple on you tube. Ok first you have to find Windows movie maker on ur Pc. then go to photobucket and put in Caramelldansen you will see moving pictures. Click them when the new page comes up right click the picture and click save to my pictures do this with the pic u want then u have to download or somehow get the song on you PC. Click and drag what you want in ur video and operate what you want to do when WMM (WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER) is open look at the left it has thing u can do click import pictures. Import the pictures you saved and click and drag them to the time line below Import the song and leave it alone its full lenght drag it if u want it shorter. Save it on ur PC and upload!

How to Export messages from Outlook to Flash-Drive?

I want to export all my inbox messages (as .msg files) to my flash drive. but i want to keep my folder structure as it is in Outlook without having to creat the folders manually





It's Office 2007





i.e.: ';Inbox -%26gt; Jokes';


exported: D:\Inbox\jokes\funnymail.msgHow to Export messages from Outlook to Flash-Drive?
Simple. Just give the Flash drive location for saving your file. Then it will save in your Flash drive location.





Cheers,


Babu.

cartridge refill

Can videos from Sony Handy cams using flash memory or SD card be transferred from camera - computer - an iPod?

We are looking at purchasing a Sony DCR-SX40 camcorder. What we really need to know is if the format that you upload to the computer is in a format where we can use a program we have to put DVDs onto an iTouch will work with the video from the camcorder.Can videos from Sony Handy cams using flash memory or SD card be transferred from camera - computer - an iPod?
i believe it can try researching programs that work with your camcorder and or even better contact the company and ask but i know u can transfer stuff from the i pod from computer my niece and grandson do it all the time just not positive about dvds sorry if it didn't


help u but i believe it can be done

Why will my computer not download Adobe Flash?

I have been trying to get Adobe Flash Player for the last 5 days and everytime i go to it it tells me it can't download the google bar. I don't think the google bar has anything to do with it, so i left the computer for about 30 minutes but it's still not downloading.Why will my computer not download Adobe Flash?
I have seen a problem like this before. Turn automatic updates and let it install all of the stuff. After that try it again. If it still doesn't work then I don't know what to do.





Hope this helps.

How can I watch Youtube and other flash videos on my Windows Mobile 6 Phone?

Watch youtube videos : http://www.1800pocketpc.com/2008/10/13/y鈥?/a>





Download youtube videos : http://www.1800pocketpc.com/2008/10/29/w鈥?/a>





Will work onky on windows mobile pro devices

How do I copy documents from a flash drive onto a CD?

I have an Apple Mac. Thanks!How do I copy documents from a flash drive onto a CD?
Hello,


This is what i do.


When you insert the CD go to My Computer and go into the flash drive files copy the file then go back to My Computer and right-click your CD drive and press explore then past the file. Then press File and write files onto CD.