SOLUTION: You clocked the time between lightning and thunder as 8 seconds. About how far away was the lightning?

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Question 94874: You clocked the time between lightning and thunder as 8 seconds. About how far away was the lightning?
Answer by scott8148(5891) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
the speed of sound is about a mile in 5 sec

this is the "rule of thumb" of counting the seconds from when you see the lightning to when you hear the thunder and dividing by 5 to get the distance in miles

in this case, 8/5=1.4 miles

the speed of the flash (about 186,000 miles per second) is considered instantaneous