Archive for January 24th, 2010

How to calculate the distance from lightning

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Ever wanted to know how many kilometers or miles the lightning is far? Well here’s the answer:

  1. Watch the sky for a flash of lightning.
  2. Count the number of seconds until you hear the lightning (use a watch for more accurate results).
  3. Divide the number of seconds by 3 to know the distance in kilometers and by 5 to know in miles. For example:
  • If the time is 30 sec. then the distance in km is 30 divided by 3 equals 10 km
  • If the time is 30 sec. then the distance in miles is 30 divided by 5 equals 6 miles

Some people ask why do we need to know this?

The answer is: it is useful for people in countries that lightning occurs every second. Like this they will know if the lightning is near and run away for their lives.

NOTE: This fact is confirmed by many scientists.