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Waves and Sound

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You can estimate the distance to a lightning flash by counting the seconds that elapse between the time you see the flash and when you hear the accompanying thunder. (a) The approximate distance in miles is obtained by dividing the time in seconds by 5. Explain why this is so. (b) Estimate the distance to a lightning flash that you see 10 s before you hear thunder.

I need to see each step and formula to solve this question. Please assume I know nothing because this would be the correct assumption. :)

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It explains how to estimate the distance to a lightning flash that you see 10 s before you hear thunder. The distance to a lighing flash that you see is determined. The solution was rated '5/5' by the student who posted the question.

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Hello and thank you for posting your question to Brainmass!

The speed of light is c = 3 × 10^8 m/s while the speed of sound is v = 330 m/s.

Since the light speed is so large compared to the speed of sound, we can assume that we see the lightning at the same instance it occurs.

For example,light from a ...

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