Why do we see lightning before thunder?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: Light travels faster than sound
Light travels faster than sound ✓ — Correct! Light travels at 300,000 km/s while sound only travels at 343 m/s in air - light is almost a million times faster! Lightning and thunder happen at the same instant, but light reaches your eyes almost immediately while sound takes time. Count seconds between flash and thunder, divide by 3 - that's roughly how many kilometers away the lightning struck!
Eyes react quicker than ears — Wrong. Your senses react at similar speeds. The delay is because light travels much faster than sound - about a million times faster! They both start at the same moment from the lightning.
Lightning happens first — Wrong. Lightning and thunder happen simultaneously. The lightning creates the thunder by rapidly heating air. You see light first because it travels much faster than sound.