It makes sense that lightening reaches us faster bcoz it travels at the speed of light while thunder travels at the speed of sound. But shouldn’t it last for same duration as thunder?
In: Physics
The duration of the thunder is unrelated to the speed of the sound, it is the noise generated by the lightning vaporizing air particles in its way to the ground. The delay between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder is due to the speed of light and sound, respectively, but the duration of the thunder is entirely dependent on the characteristics of the lightning, how long of a bolt it was, how much energy was in it, how many air particles it superheated on its way down, etc.
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