Explained in a child-friendly way: How is thunder formed?
Thunderstorms can be fascinating, but they can also be terrifying. Especially for our little ones. As soon as there is lightning and thunder, they snuggle closer to us, seeking shelter from the tremendous noise that the sky is making out there. It would be interesting to know why it thunders at all!
How is thunder formed? Or rather: why is it thundering at all? Your child would also like to have this question clarified. After all, thunder is anything but quiet and calming – especially when the thunderstorm discharges at night.
Natural phenomena: How is thunder formed?
Lightning and thunder go together. As soon as there is lightning, there is thunder. It usually takes a moment for that cracking thunderstorm sound to be heard after the lightning flashes. From this we can conclude that lightning plays a crucial role in the formation of thunder. And that is exactly the case.
The lightning heats the air around it to over 30,000 degrees. The heated air then suddenly expands and an enormous pressure wave is created – which we hear as thunder.
Lightning and Thunder: How far away is the thunderstorm?
But if lightning and thunder actually follow each other directly, why do we often hear the thunder later than we see the lightning? That’s because light from lightning travels a million times faster than sound from thunder.
By the way, we can calculate how far away the thunderstorm is from us. The sound travels about 330 meters per second. As soon as you see lightning in the sky, you count the seconds until you hear thunder. Assuming ten seconds pass, then you calculate: 10 x 330 meters. That is 3,300 meters, than 3.3 kilometers. In this case, the thunderstorm would be that far away from you.