Why do we see lightning before hearing thunder?

We see lightning before we hear thunder because light travels faster than sound.

Imagine you're playing with your friend across the room. You flick on a flashlight, they see it almost instantly. But if you shout, "Hey!" it takes a little longer for them to hear you. That’s because light moves super fast, like a cheetah running, while sound moves slower, like a turtle crawling.

Lightning is like a bright flash, it's the light from the lightning bolt that reaches your eyes first. It zips through the air in no time at all.

Then comes thunder, which is the loud noise made by the lightning. But sound takes longer to travel, so you hear it after you see the lightning.

It’s like when you drop a pebble into a pond, the splash (lightning) happens right away, but the ripples (sound) take time to reach the other side.

So next time you see lightning and then hear thunder, remember: light is faster than sound!