It is the other way around. The lightning causes the thunder. A bolt of lightning heats the air up very hot, and when the bolt has passed the air cools down very quickly and other air rushes into the space. This causes the loud noise.
If you see a bolt of lightning, count the seconds until you hear the thunder clap. The more seconds, the further away the lighting is. This is because the light travels much faster than the sound.
Thats almost like the questions ‘which came first, the chicken or the egg’ sort of 🙂
It works the other way around. Wherever there is lightning there is thunder. Lightning is a huge movement of electricity across the sky or between the ground and the sky. When the electricity moves you see big sheets or ‘bolts’ of light. The air around the electricity about to move quickly expands. It expands so fast that a shock wave is made, similar to the shockwave a bomb makes when it explodes. This shock wave is so large that it can be heard for extremely long distances.
bates
It is the other way around. The lightning causes the thunder. A bolt of lightning heats the air up very hot, and when the bolt has passed the air cools down very quickly and other air rushes into the space. This causes the loud noise.
If you see a bolt of lightning, count the seconds until you hear the thunder clap. The more seconds, the further away the lighting is. This is because the light travels much faster than the sound.
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Hey @bates,
Thats almost like the questions ‘which came first, the chicken or the egg’ sort of 🙂
It works the other way around. Wherever there is lightning there is thunder. Lightning is a huge movement of electricity across the sky or between the ground and the sky. When the electricity moves you see big sheets or ‘bolts’ of light. The air around the electricity about to move quickly expands. It expands so fast that a shock wave is made, similar to the shockwave a bomb makes when it explodes. This shock wave is so large that it can be heard for extremely long distances.
0