A person standing 99 m from the foot of a tall cliff, claps hands and hears an echo 0.6 s later. Calculate the speed of sound in air.
To calculate the speed of sound, we need to use the formula: speed = distance / time.
First, let's calculate the total distance traveled by the sound from the person to the cliff and back. The sound travels 99 meters to the cliff and then another 99 meters back to the person, giving a total distance of 99 + 99 = 198 meters.
Next, let's calculate the total time it takes for the sound to travel this distance. We are given that the echo is heard 0.6 seconds after clapping hands. This time includes both the time for the sound to reach the cliff and the time for the echo to return. Since the sound has to travel the 198-meter total distance twice, we divide this time by 2: 0.6 seconds / 2 = 0.3 seconds.
Now we can use the formula speed = distance / time to calculate the speed of sound: speed = 198 meters / 0.3 seconds = 660 meters per second.
Therefore, the speed of sound in air is 660 m/s.