1. Light travels much faster than sound: This is the primary mistake. Light travels at approximately 299,792,458 meters per second, while sound travels at approximately 343 meters per second in air. This means that light from the explosion reaches your eyes significantly before the sound waves reach your ears.
2. You are perceiving events simultaneously, which is impossible due to the finite speed of light: The very act of "seeing" the explosion at the same time as "hearing" it implies that the light and sound traveled the same distance in the same amount of time. This is impossible given the vast difference in their speeds. You are experiencing a *perception* of simultaneity, but the events actually occurred at different times.
Here's how to think about it:
Imagine a lightning strike. You see the flash of light almost instantly. However, you might not hear the thunder for several seconds afterward. The reason is that the light from the strike traveled to you at the speed of light, while the sound waves took longer because they travel much slower.
The same principle applies to a distant explosion. The light from the explosion reaches your eyes first, followed by the sound waves some time later. The time delay between seeing and hearing the explosion is directly related to the distance between you and the explosion. The further away the explosion, the longer the delay.
