– Why do we continue to hear thunder after the initial boom?

Question

Why do we hear thunder rumble for quite a while after the initial boom or crack. When you hear sounds from other loud things like fire works, gun shots, car crash, something heavy falling, etc.. the sound hits you and is then gone almost instantly, why does thunder continue to rumble for so long?

In: Physics

Answer 1

1. Sound bounces
2. Sound travelers outward in a sphere, so the sound you hear first is the initial boom, but there’s still the rest of the sphere that bounces around off of things, meaning you’ll hear the other bits later.