On December 26, 2004, a great earthquake occurred off the coast of Sumatra and triggered immense waves that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Satellites observing these waves from space measured 800 km from one wave crest to the next and a period between waves of 1.0 hour. What was the speed of these waves in m/s and km/h?

I know the answers are 220 m/s and 800 km/h, but how do I get the answers?

frequency*wavelength= velocity

velocity= 1/3600sec * 800E3m=220m/s

To find the speed of the waves, we can use the wave speed equation:

Speed = Distance / Time

First, let's convert the distance between wave crests from kilometers to meters:

Distance = 800 km = 800,000 meters

Next, let's convert the time between waves from hours to seconds:

Time = 1.0 hour = 1.0 x 60 x 60 seconds = 3600 seconds

Now we can calculate the speed:

Speed = Distance / Time

Speed = 800,000 meters / 3600 seconds

Simplifying:

Speed ≈ 222.22 m/s

Therefore, the speed of these waves is approximately 222.22 m/s.

To find the speed in kilometers per hour, we can use the conversion factor:

1 km/h = 0.2778 m/s

Multiplying the speed by this conversion factor, we get:

Speed = 222.22 m/s x 0.2778 km/h

Speed ≈ 61.73 km/h

Therefore, the speed of these waves is approximately 61.73 km/h.

To calculate the speed of the waves, you can use the formula:

Speed = Distance / Time

Let's break down the problem to find the speed in meters per second (m/s) and kilometers per hour (km/h):

1. First, convert the wave crest distance from kilometers (km) to meters (m):
Distance = 800 km * 1000 m/km = 800,000 m

2. Convert the time between waves from hours (h) to seconds (s):
Time = 1.0 hour * 60 min/hour * 60 s/min = 3600 s

Now that we have the distance in meters and the time in seconds, we can calculate the speed:

Speed = Distance / Time = 800,000 m / 3600 s = 222.22 m/s (rounded to two decimal places)

To convert this speed from meters per second (m/s) to kilometers per hour (km/h), we need to use the following conversion factor:

1 km/h = 1000 m / 3600 s

3. Calculate the speed in kilometers per hour (km/h):
Speed = 222.22 m/s * (1000 m / 3600 s)
= 61.73 km/h (rounded to two decimal places)

Therefore, the speed of the waves is approximately 222.22 m/s and 61.73 km/h.