Why Did the Lightning Light Appear Before the Sound?
Lightning is an air electrical phenomenon in the form of an electric discharge that occurs in the air due to field differences electricity between two masses with different electric charges to achieve equilibrium (Griffith, 1995).
The phenomenon of lightning occurs because of the potential difference between the cloud and the earth. This phenomenon usually occurs when it rains. The continuous movement of clouds interacting with other clouds so that a negative charge will gather on one side of the cloud, and a positive charge on the other side.
This event causes the accumulation of positive charges on the upper side and negative charges on the lower side. So that the negative charge on the cloud will induce a positive charge on the earth and an electric field is formed between the two.
But why did the lightning flash appear before the sound?
This is because the speed of light is faster than the speed of sound. The speed of light is approximately 300 million meters per second, while the speed of sound is only 300 meters per second.
So when we see the lightning light we have a fraction of a second to cover our ears.
Like the speed of light, we reply to a chat with a lover, while a rainbow is a reply to a chat, beautiful but last and for a moment. Why isn't it sound? Because the speed of sound is too fast to be likened to a chat lover's reply.