You let out a shout, echo comes back and reaches you in 1.4 seconds. if the speed of sound in air is 343 m/s, what is the distance to the cliff?
a. need assitance in setting up problem?
Let d be the distance to the cliff, and V be the speed of sound. The sound must travel a distance 2 d to hear the echo.
2d = V t
Solve for the distance d and substitute the numerical values of t and V.
i was wondering where the 2 came from?
The sound of an echo must make a round trip to the reflecting wall and back. The shouter is also the listener. That's why the 2 is there
s=d/t
you have t and s and want to find d - algebra allows yoy to re-write the equation - be aure to use units in your answer - former teacher
You are correct! The equation "s = d/t" can be rearranged to solve for distance, which is represented by "d". By multiplying both sides of the equation by "t", we get "d = s * t".
In this case, "s" represents the speed of sound and "t" represents the time it takes for the echo to travel back to you. Plugging in the values given in the question, we have:
d = 343 m/s * 1.4 s
Multiplying the values together, we get:
d = 480.2 m
So, the distance to the cliff is approximately 480.2 meters.