Calculate Lightning and Thunder

Stopwatch and calculator for calculating how far away lightning is from you from the time between lightning and thunder. The sound travels about 343 meters in one second, about 20 kilometers in one minute.

Stopwatch




Calculator

Time between lightning and thunder: seconds
Distance of the lightning: kilometers

This calculator can also be used without the stopwatch, simply enter one of the two values and press Calculate. The distance of a noise is measured, which does not have to be thunder, but can be anything that can be heard over a long distance and which noise source can be seen. Sound has the same speed in the air, regardless of what it is generated by.

The speed of sound given above of 343 meters per second applies to a temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius. If it is noticeably colder, it is a little lower, and if it is very hot, it is a little higher, but the difference is small. The difference is even smaller for low or high humidity.

A few more tips on what to do during a thunderstorm: you are safe from lightning in buildings with lightning rods and in closed cars with a metal body. In towns, you can stand under canopies. Narrow streets between two houses are also relatively safe. In open fields, you should squat down and make yourself as small as possible, but do not lie down. Avoid rock faces, trees and other elevated objects. If you are unprotected outdoors, you can try to get close to metal masts (such as high-voltage power lines) and keep a distance of about three meters from them, or stand under the overhead power lines. If you are in water, you should get out of it as quickly as possible. If you are on a mountain, you should descend quickly. The summit cross and metal safety ropes are particularly vulnerable to impact.


Physics commonly uses SI units. Here is a calculator to convert units.




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