• Question: What causes thunder

    Asked by reaganbrien to Ben, Dave, Ed, Sam, Susana on 24 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Sam Horrell

      Sam Horrell answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      Thunder is caused by lightning. When lighning hits the ground from the clouds some of the lighning returns to the cloud from the ground by the same channel. The heat of the returning lightning is about 27,000 C° and because it is so fact it compresses the air which then rapidly expands making the loud rumbling sound.

    • Photo: David Briggs

      David Briggs answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      Hello again Reaganbrien 🙂

      When the bolt of lightning is released, it heats up the air it passes though to about 20,000ºC – hotter than the suface of the sun ❗ (but only for a few millionths of a second).

      This heating causes the air to expand very very quickly – faster than the speed of sound – so something like a sonic boom is produced – which is what we hear as thunder .

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