Thunder

Cumulonimbus clouds often form thunderstorms.

Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending on the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a sharp, loud crack to a long, low rumble (brontide). The sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning produces rapid expansion of the air surrounding and within a bolt of lightning. In turn, this expansion of air creates a sonic shock wave, similar to a sonic boom, often referred to as a "thunderclap" or "peal of thunder".

Cause

The cause of thunder has been the subject of centuries of speculation and scientific inquiry. The first recorded theory is attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle in the fourth century BC, and an early speculation was that it was caused by the collision of clouds. Subsequently, numerous other theories were proposed. By the mid-19th century, the accepted theory was that lightning produced a vacuum.

In the 20th century a consensus evolved that thunder must begin with a shock wave in the air due to the sudden thermal expansion of the plasma in the lightning channel.[1] The temperature inside the lightning channel, measured by spectral analysis, varies during its 50 μs existence, rising sharply from an initial temperature of about 20,000 K to about 30,000 K, then dropping away gradually to about 10,000 K. The average is about 20,400 K (20,100 °C; 36,300 °F).[2] This heating causes a rapid outward expansion, impacting the surrounding cooler air at a speed faster than sound would otherwise travel. The resultant outward-moving pulse is a shock wave,[3] similar in principle to the shock wave formed by an explosion, or at the front of a supersonic aircraft.

Experimental studies of simulated lightning have produced results largely consistent with this model, though there is continued debate about the precise physical mechanisms of the process.[4][1] Other causes have also been proposed, relying on electrodynamic effects of the massive current acting on the plasma in the bolt of lightning.[5] The shockwave in thunder is sufficient to cause injury, such as internal contusion, to individuals nearby.[6]

Inversion thunder results when lightning strikes between cloud and ground occur during a temperature inversion. In such an inversion, the air near the ground is cooler than the higher air. The sound energy is prevented from dispersing vertically as it would in a non-inversion and is thus concentrated in the near-ground layer. Inversions often occur when warm moist air passes above a cold front; the resulting thunder sound is significantly louder than it would be if heard at the same distance in a non-inversion condition.[7]

Thunder is the sound produced by lightning.

Etymology

The d in Modern English thunder (from earlier Old English þunor) is epenthetic, and is now found as well in Modern Dutch donder (cp Middle Dutch donre, and Old Norse þorr, Old Frisian þuner, Old High German donar descended from Proto-Germanic *þunraz). In Latin the term was tonare "to thunder". The name of the Germanic god Thor comes from the Old Norse word for thunder.[8]

The shared Proto-Indo-European root is *tón-r̥ or *tar-, also found Gaulish Taranis and Hittite Tarhunt.

Distance calculation

A flash of lightning, followed after some time by a rumble of thunder, illustrates the fact that sound travels significantly slower than light. Using this difference, one can estimate how far away the bolt of lightning is by timing the interval between seeing the flash and hearing thunder. The speed of sound in dry air is approximately 343 m/s or 1,127 ft/s or 768 mph (1,236 km/h) at 20 °C (68 °F).[9] This translates to approximately 3 seconds per kilometer (or 5 seconds per mile); saying "One-Mississippi... Two-Mississippi..." (or "One One-thousand... Two One-Thousand...)[10] is a useful method of counting the seconds from the perception of a given lightning flash to the perception of its thunder (which can be used to gauge the proximity of lightning for the sake of safety).[11]

The speed of light is high enough that it can be taken as infinite in this calculation because of the relatively small distance involved. Therefore, the lightning is approximately one kilometer distant for every 3 seconds that elapse between the visible flash and the first sound of thunder (or one mile for every 5 seconds). In the same five seconds, the light could have traveled the Lunar distance four times. (In this calculation, the initial shock wave, which travels at a rate faster than the speed of sound, but only extends outward for the first 30 feet (9 m), is ignored.)[12] Thunder is seldom heard at distances over 20 kilometers (12 mi).[3] A very bright flash of lightning and an almost simultaneous sharp "crack" of thunder, a thundercrack, therefore indicates that the lightning strike was very near.

Very close thunder cracks

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Rakov, Vladimir A.; Uman, Martin A. (2007). Lightning: Physics and Effects. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 378. ISBN 978-0-521-03541-5.
  2. ↑ Cooray, Vernon (2003). The lightning flash. London: Institution of Electrical Engineers. pp. 163–164. ISBN 978-0-85296-780-5.
  3. 1 2 "Thunder". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2008-06-07. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  4. ↑ MacGorman, Donald R.; Rust, W. David (1998). The Electrical Nature of Stomrs. Oxford University Press. pp. 102–104. ISBN 978-0195073379. Archived from the original on 2014-06-28. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
  5. ↑ P Graneau (1989). "The cause of thunder". J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 22 (8): 1083–1094. Bibcode:1989JPhD...22.1083G. doi:10.1088/0022-3727/22/8/012.
  6. ↑ Fish, Raymond M (2004). "Thermal and mechanical shock wave injury". In Nabours, Robert E. Electrical injuries: engineering, medical, and legal aspects. Tucson, AZ: Lawyers & Judges Publishing. p. 220. ISBN 978-1-930056-71-8.
  7. ↑ Dean A. Pollet and Micheal M. Kordich, User's guide for the Sound Intensity Prediction System (SIPS) as installed at the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division (Naveodtechdiv) Archived 2013-04-08 at the Wayback Machine.. Systems Department February 2000. dtic.mil
  8. ↑ "thunder". Oxford English Dictionary (2 ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. 1989.
  9. ↑ Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 72nd edition, special student edition. Boca Raton: The Chemical Rubber Co. 1991. p. 14.36. ISBN 978-0-8493-0486-6.
  10. ↑ Tulga, Phil. "Thunderstorm Stopwatch". Music Through the Curriculum. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  11. ↑ "Web Weather for Kids". Web Weather for Kids.
  12. ↑ "The Science of Thunder - National Lightning Safety Institute". Archived from the original on 2007-10-15.

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