Ever noticed how you see lightning before you hear thunder during a storm? Here’s the science behind it:

🔸 Light Travels Faster: Lightning produces both light and sound, but light travels at 299,792 km/s (186,282 miles per second), reaching your eyes almost instantly.

🔸 Sound Travels Slower: Sound waves from thunder travel much slower, only about 343 m/s (1,125 feet per second) in air.

That’s why the farther away the storm is, the longer it takes for the thunder to reach you!

Fun Fact: You can estimate how far a storm is by counting the seconds between the lightning flash and the thunder. For every 5 seconds, the storm is about 1 mile (or 1.6 kilometers) away.

Stay curious, and stay safe during storms! Did you already know this trick?