A sound wave traveling at 343 m/s is emitted by the foghorn of a tugboat. An echo is heard 2.60 s later. How far away is the reflecting object?

1 Answer
Nam D.
Apr 28, 2018

#445.9# meters.

Explanation:

We first find the distance traveled by the sound, which is given by the equation:

#d=v*t#

  • #v# is the velocity of substance

  • #t# is the time taken

And so, we get:

#d=(343 \ "m")/(color(red)cancelcolor(black)"s")*2.6color(red)cancelcolor(black)"s"#

#=891.8 \ "m"#

Here is where you need to be careful, as most questions about sound traveled do this trick. You now have to divide the distance found by #2#, to get the distance of the object from the original object, because the sound created has to travel back for us to be able to hear.

So, the reflecting object is #(891.8 \ "m")/2=441.9 \ "m"# away from the fogboat.

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