Question
How would you estimate the distance between you and an approaching storm front involving lightning and thunder?
Step 1
First, observe the lightning flash in the sky. Show more…
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You observe that the delay between a lightning flash and the thunder is 8 s. How far away is the lightning?
You can tell about how many miles you are from a thunderstorm by counting the seconds between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder, and then dividing by five. How many seconds would you count for a thunderstorm that is nine miles away?
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During a thunderstorm, you can easily estimate your distance from a lightning strike. Count the number of seconds that elapse from when you see the flash of lightning to when you hear the thunder. The rule of thumb is that 5 s clapse for each mile of distance. Verify that this rule of thumb is (approximately) correct. (One mile is $1.6 \mathrm{km}$ and light travels at a speed of $3 \times 10^{8} \mathrm{m} / \mathrm{s} .$ )
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