a child standing in front of high cliff make a loud sound, and hears an echo after 30 seconds. Calculate how far is the child from the cliff?
find the speed of sound in air ... it is temperature dependent
multiply the speed of sound by the time to find the distance the sound travels
... the cliff distance is half of the total travel
To calculate the distance between the child and the cliff, we need to consider the speed of sound. The speed of sound in air is approximately 343 meters per second.
Since the child hears the echo after 30 seconds, it means that the sound wave had to travel from the child to the cliff and then back to the child. So, the total time for the round trip is 30 seconds.
First, let's divide this time in half to calculate the time it took for the sound to reach the cliff:
Time to reach the cliff = Time for round trip / 2 = 30 seconds / 2 = 15 seconds.
Next, we can use the formula for distance:
Distance = Speed × Time
Distance = Speed of sound × Time to reach the cliff
Distance = 343 m/s × 15 seconds = 5145 meters.
Therefore, the child is approximately 5145 meters away from the cliff.