Question

Why is lightning seen before thunder is heard?

Light travels faster than sound.
Sound travels faster than light.
Sound waves get weaker as they spread farther out, so we must wait longer to hear it loudly.
Light waves are propelled forward by sound waves, so the light reaches us first.
The lightning is created several seconds before the thunder.

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

The correct answer is: Light travels faster than sound. When lightning occurs, the light from the flash reaches our eyes almost instantaneously because light travels at a speed of approximately 186,000 miles per second. However, thunder is the sound produced by the rapid expansion and contraction of the air surrounding the lightning bolt. Sound travels much slower than light, at a speed of about 1,125 feet per second. This difference in speed is why we see the lightning before we hear the thunder.