Question

At room temperature, sound travels at a speed of about 344 m/s in air. You see a distant flash of lightning and hear the thunder arrive 7.8 seconds later.
How many miles away was the lightning strike? (Assume the light takes essentially no time to reach you.)

Answer 1

Answer:

$d=1.67mi$

Explanation:

Assuming the light takes essentially no time to reach you, the distance at which the lightning occurred can be calculated by multiplying the speed of sound by the time it takes to hear the thunder:

$d=v_st\\d=344\frac{m}{s}(7.8s)\\d=2683.2m*\frac{1mi}{1609.34m}=1.67mi$