Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning produces rapid expansion of the air in the path of a lightning bolt. In turn, this expansion of air creates a sonic shock wave, often referred to as a “thunderclap” or “peal of thunder”.
What does it mean when it thunders really loud?
If the thunder sounds more like a rumble, the lightning was at least several miles away. The loud boom that you sometimes hear is created by the main lightning channel as it reaches the ground. Remember, if you can hear thunder, chances are that you’re within striking distance of the storm.
What does a lightning strike sound like?
As Washington Post deputy weather editor Angela Fritz explains, the sound of the strike — similar to the sound of gunshots — is the sound of air heating up to “54,000 degrees Fahrenheit.” “The air around the lightning bolt expands faster than the speed of sound, which creates a shock wave of thunder.”
Why is it spelled lightning?
Today, there are two forms of the word lightning, and people often get confused about their spellings. Dictionaries say that long ago the two words were spelled the same. They both come from the word light, which goes back even further, all the way to Old English before the year 900.
Is really loud thunder bad?
Other than the threat of the lightning itself, does thunder — especially very loud thunder — pose any threat to people near the lightning strike? The shock wave and thunder (at very close range to the lightning bolt) can cause property damage, but no injuries have been reported.
Why does thunder shake a house?
Why does the house shake when there is a thunder storm? Your house will shake depending the closeness of the lightning. Thunder is a sonic boom that comes from the rapid heating of the air around a lightning strike. Sonic booms cause massive shaking to nearby objects (your house).
How is the sound of thunder related to lightning?
The Sound of Thunder. Regardless of whether lightning is positive or negative, thunder is produced the same way. Thunder is the acoustic shock wave resulting from the extreme heat generated by a lightning flash.
How are shock waves related to the sound of Thunder?
Shock waves emanating along the lightning bolt’s path, arriving to the listener’s ear at the same time, enhance the intensity of the sound. At large distances from the center, the shock wave (thunder) can be many miles across. The shock wave is greatly elongated.
Who are the hunters in a sound of Thunder?
When the party arrives in the past, Travis (the hunting guide) and Lesperance (Travis’s assistant) warn Eckels and the two other hunters, Billings and Kramer, about the necessity of minimizing the events they change before they go back, since even the smallest alterations to the distant past could snowball into catastrophic changes in history.
Is the sound of Thunder hotter than the Sun?
The Sound of Thunder. Lightning can be as hot as 54,000 °F (30,000 °C ), a temperature that is five times hotter than the surface of the sun! When lightning occurs, it heats the air surrounding its channel to that same incredible temperature in a fraction of a second. Like all gases, when air molecules are heated, they expand.
