Your sonic range finder measures the distance to a nearby building at 20m. The range finder is calibrated for sound traveling 343 m/s, but on this very cold day the speed of sound is only 309 m/s. How far away is the building?
To determine the distance to the building, we can use the equation:
Distance = Speed × Time
However, since we don't know the time it took for sound to travel to the building, we need to rearrange the equation. Let's start by finding the time it took for sound to travel using the given speed of sound.
Speed = Distance ÷ Time
Plugging in the values, we get:
309 m/s = 20 m ÷ Time
To find the time, we rearrange the equation to solve for Time:
Time = Distance ÷ Speed
Time = 20 m ÷ 309 m/s
Upon calculating, we get:
Time ≈ 0.065 seconds
Now that we have the time, we can use the calibrated speed of sound (343 m/s) to calculate the distance:
Distance = Speed × Time
Distance = 343 m/s × 0.065 s
Calculating the above yields:
Distance ≈ 22.3 m
Therefore, on this very cold day, the building is approximately 22.3 meters away.
distance out and back = 2d
distance = rate * time
40 = 309 t
t = 40/309 (the finder actually measured this time)
2*real distance = 343 (40/309)
real distance = 343 (20/309)