Answer:
3.2 miles
Explanation:
We can assume that the light coming from the lightning reach instantaneously our eyes (because light travels very fast, [tex]3\cdot 10^8 m/s[/tex]), so the time between the lightining and the hearing of the thunder is equal to the time that sound takes to each us.
Sound travels in air approximately at speed
v = 343 m/s
So the distance it covers in a time of t = 15 seconds is
[tex]d=vt=(3403 m/s)(15 s)=5145 m[/tex]
And using the conversion from meters to miles,
1 mile = 1609 meters
we find
[tex]d=\frac{5145 m}{1609 m/miles} = 3.2 miles[/tex]
