thunder is heard 4.5 seconds after the flash of lightning is seen. How far away was the lightning flash and how long did it take for the light to reach him?
(c - Vsound)T = X
Solve for X, using the speeds of light (c) and sound (Vsound), and the given value of the time delay, T
To determine how far away the lightning flash was and how long it took for the light to reach you, we'll use the speed of sound and the speed of light.
1. First, let's calculate the distance to the lightning flash.
- The speed of sound in air is approximately 343 meters per second.
- Since sound takes 4.5 seconds to reach you, we can multiply the speed of sound by the time it took: distance = speed of sound × time.
- Therefore, distance = 343 m/s × 4.5 s = 1543.5 meters.
So, the lightning flash was approximately 1543.5 meters away from you.
2. Next, let's determine how long it took for the light to reach you.
- The speed of light is approximately 299,792,458 meters per second.
- Since light travels at a significantly faster speed than sound, we can assume that the time it took for light to reach you can be considered negligible in this case.
Therefore, it took almost no time for the light from the lightning flash to reach you.
To summarize, the lightning flash was approximately 1543.5 meters away from you, and the light from the flash reached you virtually instantaneously.