A student witnesses a flash of lightning and then t = 6.5 s later the student hears the associated clap of thunder. Light travels at 3.0 × 108 m/s in the air. How long, t1, in seconds did it take the light to reach the student's eyes after the flash?
forget speed of light in this context, so much faster than sound that basically it is infinite. All that matters is the creeping speed of sound.
6.5 s * speed of sound in air = distance
then divide that distance by 3*10^8
7.431x10^10
To find the time it took for the light to reach the student's eyes after the flash, we can use the given information.
Given:
Speed of light in the air = 3.0 × 10^8 m/s
Time between flash and hearing thunder, t = 6.5 s
We can assume that the sound of thunder traveled instantaneously compared to the speed of light.
To find t1, the time it took for the light to reach the student's eyes after the flash, we can use the formula:
Speed = Distance / Time
Since we know the speed of light and the time it took for the light to reach the student's eyes, we can rearrange the formula to solve for distance:
Distance = Speed × Time
However, we need to consider that the distance traveled by light is the same as the distance traveled by sound. This is because they both originated from the same source (flash of lightning).
Therefore,
Distance traveled by light = Distance traveled by sound
Using the formula again, we have:
Speed of light × t1 = Speed of sound × t
Since we know the values for the speed of light, speed of sound, and time between flash and hearing thunder, we can rearrange the formula to solve for t1:
t1 = (Speed of sound × t) / Speed of light
The speed of sound in air is approximately 343 m/s.
Plugging in the values, we have:
t1 = (343 m/s × 6.5 s) / (3.0 × 10^8 m/s)
Now let's calculate the value of t1:
t1 = (343 m/s × 6.5 s) / (3.0 × 10^8 m/s)
t1 ≈ 7.45 × 10^-3 s
Therefore, it took approximately 7.45 × 10^-3 seconds (or 0.00745 seconds) for the light to reach the student's eyes after the flash.
To find the time it took for the light to reach the student's eyes after the flash, we need to use the speed of light.
Given:
- Speed of light = 3.0 × 10^8 m/s
- Time between the flash and the clap of thunder = 6.5 seconds
Now, we know that both light and sound travel at different speeds. Light travels much faster than sound. In this case, we assume that the time it took for the sound to reach the student's ears is equal to the time it took for the light to reach the student's eyes.
To find the time for the light to reach the student's eyes, we can subtract the time taken for the sound to reach the student's ears from the total time between the flash and the clap.
So, t1 = (total time) - (time taken for sound)
t1 = 6.5 seconds
Therefore, the time it took for the light to reach the student's eyes after the flash is 6.5 seconds.