If we have just counted 15 seconds between the lightning and thunder, how far away do we predict the center of the thunderstorm to be using the 3 second rule and What was the percent difference between the prediction and the real distance of the thunderstorm? The speed of light is 3x108 m/s, and the speed of sound is 343 m/s.

1 answer

15/3 = 5 ... storm distance in km

15s * 343m/s = theoretical distance

the time for the light to travel is below the sig fig of the other measurements ... it can be considered instantaneous