Now can you please tell me if I am right for the following problems:

The speed of rain is about 1,100 feet per second. If you observe a flash of lighting and then hear the thunder 5 seconds later how far away from you did the lighting strike? Is this less or more than a mile? (A mile is 5,280)

My answer to the problem was: you heard the lighting 5,500 feet away which means that the distance is more than a mile.

Another question, tell if I am right to this problem:

A kid saw the flash of his moms flashlight on a hillside in the distance. Seven seconds later he heard the flashlight break. Approximate the distance to the flashlight, using the fact that sound travels 1,100 feet per second.

My answer to the problem was that the distance to the flashlight was 7,700 feet.

First: correct.

Second: Correct.

There is an old rule...count the seconds in a lightning flash, divide by 5: That is the approximate distance in miles to the lightening.

For the first problem, you correctly determined that the distance to the lightning strike is more than a mile. To calculate the distance, you correctly used the information that the speed of sound is about 1,100 feet per second. Given that you heard the thunder 5 seconds after seeing the flash, you multiplied the speed of sound by the time delay: 1,100 feet/second * 5 seconds = 5,500 feet. Since there are 5,280 feet in a mile, the distance is indeed more than a mile.

For the second problem, you also arrived at the correct answer. By using the same logic and given that the sound of the flashlight breaking took 7 seconds to reach the kid, you multiplied the speed of sound by the time delay: 1,100 feet/second * 7 seconds = 7,700 feet.

It's great that you got both answers correct by using the formula mentioned. This rule is a common approximation and can provide a quick estimation of the distance to the lightning flash or flashlight flash by dividing the time delay by 5. However, please keep in mind that this rule assumes the speed of sound to be 1,100 feet per second. In reality, the speed of sound may vary depending on various factors such as temperature and humidity.