Thunder

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For other uses, see Thunder (disambiguation).
Cumulonimbus clouds often form thunderstorms.

Thunder is the sound caused by lightning.[1][2][3] 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 within and surrounding the path of a lightning strike. In turn, this expansion of air creates a sonic shock wave, often referred to as a "thunderclap" or "peal of thunder". The study of thunder is known as brontology.

Etymology[edit]

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 Nordic god Thor comes from the Old Norse word for thunder.[4]

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

Cause[edit]

The cause of thunder has been the subject of centuries of speculation and scientific inquiry.[5] Early thinking was that it was made by deities but the ancient Greek philosophers attributed it to natural causes, such as wind striking clouds (Anaximander, Aristotle) and movement of air within clouds (Democritus).[6] The Roman philosopher, Lucretius held it was from the sound of hail colliding within clouds.[6]

By the mid-19th century, the accepted theory was that lightning produced a vacuum; the collapse of that vacuum produced what is known as thunder.[5]

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.[7][6] 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).[8] 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,[9] 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.[10][7] Other causes have also been proposed, relying on electrodynamic effects of the massive current acting on the plasma in the bolt of lightning.[11]

Consequences[edit]

The shock wave in thunder is sufficient to cause property damage[5] and injury, such as internal contusion, to individuals nearby.[12] Thunder can rupture the eardrums of people nearby, leading to permanently impaired hearing.[5] Even if not, it can lead to temporary deafness.[5]

Types[edit]

Vavrek et al. (n.d.) reported that the sounds of thunder fall into categories based on loudness, duration, and pitch.[5] Claps are loud sounds lasting 0.2 to 2 seconds and containing higher pitches. Peals are sounds changing in loudness and pitch. Rolls are irregular mixtures of loudness and pitches. Rumbles are less loud, last for longer (up to more than 30 seconds), and of low pitch.

Inversion thunder results when lightning strikes between cloud and ground occur during a temperature inversion; the resulting thunder sound have significantly greater acoustic energy than from the same distance in a non-inversion condition. In an inversion, the air near the ground is cooler than the higher air; inversions often occur when warm moist air passes above a cold front. Within a temperature inversion, the sound energy is prevented from dispersing vertically as it would in a non-inversion and is thus concentrated in the near-ground layer.[13]

Thunder is the sound produced by lightning.

Cloud-ground lightning typically consist of two or more return strokes, from ground to cloud. Later return strokes have greater acoustic energy than the first.[citation needed]

Perception[edit]

The most noticeable aspect of lightning and thunder is that the lightning is seen before the thunder is heard. This is a consequence of the much greater speed of light than of speed of sound. 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).[14] This translates to approximately 3 seconds per kilometre (5 seconds per mile); saying "one thousand and one... one thousand and two..." 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).

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[quantify] thunder cracks

Close-in lightning has been described first as a clicking or cloth-tearing sound, then a cannon shot sound or loud crack/snap, followed by continuous rumbling.[5] The early sounds are from the leader parts of lightning, then the near parts of the return stroke, then the distant parts of the return stroke.[5]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Severe Weather 101: Lightning Basics". nssl.noaa.gov. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  2. ^ "Thunder Facts". factsjustforkids.com. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  3. ^ "The Sound of Thunder". weather.gov. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  4. ^ "thunder". Oxford English Dictionary (2 ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. 1989.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Vavrek, R. J., Kithil, R., Holle, R. L., Allsopp, J., & Cooper, M. A. (n.d.). The science of thunder. Retrieved from http://lightningsafety.com/nlsi_info/thunder2.html
  6. ^ a b c Heidorn, K. C. (1999). Thunder: Voice of the heavens. Retrieved from http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/elements/thunder1.htm
  7. ^ a b Rakov, Vladimir A.; Uman, Martin A. (2007). Lightning: Physics and Effects. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 378. ISBN 978-0-521-03541-5.,
  8. ^ Cooray, Vernon (2003). The lightning flash. London: Institution of Electrical Engineers. pp. 163–164. ISBN 978-0-85296-780-5.
  9. ^ "Thunder". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2008-06-07. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  10. ^ MacGorman, Donald R.; Rust, W. David (1998). The Electrical Nature of Storms. Oxford University Press. pp. 102–104. ISBN 978-0195073379. Archived from the original on 2014-06-28. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ Fish, Raymond M (2004). "Thermal and mechanical shock wave injury". In Nabours, Robert E (ed.). Electrical injuries: engineering, medical, and legal aspects. Tucson, AZ: Lawyers & Judges Publishing. p. 220. ISBN 978-1-930056-71-8.
  13. ^ Dean A. Pollet and Micheal M. Kordich (2013-04-08). "User's guide for the Sound Intensity Prediction System (SIPS) as installed at the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division (Naveodtechdiv)". Systems Department February 2000. dtic.mil. Archived from the original on April 8, 2013.
  14. ^ 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.

External links[edit]

  • Media related to Thunder at Wikimedia Commons
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