What creates the sound of thunder?

Answer 1

Lightning is extremely hot, with temperatures ranging from 30,000 to 60,00 degrees Fahrenheit. This superheating of the air occurs almost instantaneously, causing the air to expand at a supersonic rate and causing a shock wave that then becomes thunder.

Answer 2

Lightning is a huge discharge of electricity. When lightning strikes huge amounts of electricity shoots through the air, this causes two things to happen.

1. The electricity hits the air and starts it vibrating, anything vibrating causes a sound.

2.The lightning is also very hot and heats up the air around it. Hot air gets bigger: it expands. As lightning is very hot the air gets bigger very quickly and pushes against the air particles starting another vibration.

These vibrations are what you are hearing when you hear thunder, the rumbling of thunder is caused by the vibration or sound bouncing of the ground and the clouds.

Answer 3

The sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning produces rapid expansion of the air surrounding and within a bolt of lightning. In turn, this expansion of air creates a sonic shock wave, similar to a sonic boom, which produces the sound of thunder.

Answer 4

In sound effects made for movies, they do stuff like take a tin foil pan and roll beans around in it to sound like thunder.

Answer 5

The sound of thunder is caused by the heat of the lightening bolt