A boy receives the echo of his clap reflected by a nearby hill 0.8s later. If the speed of sound in air is 3.40ms−1 − 1 , how far is he from the hill?

A boy receives the echo of his clap reflected by a nearby hill 0.8s later. If the speed of sound in air is 3.40ms${}^{-}1$, how far is he from the hill?

Answer Details

The speed of sound in air is given as 3.40 m/s. The echo of the clap is heard 0.8 seconds after it was produced, which means it traveled to the hill and back. The time taken for sound to travel to the hill is half of the time taken for it to travel to and from the hill. Therefore, the time taken for sound to travel to the hill is 0.8/2 = 0.4 seconds. We can use the formula: distance = speed x time to calculate the distance between the boy and the hill. distance = speed of sound x time taken for sound to travel to the hill distance = 3.40 m/s x 0.4 s distance = 1.36 m Therefore, the distance between the boy and the hill is 1.36 meters. However, the answer options provided are in meters and are significantly larger than 1.36 meters. It is possible that the speed of sound provided in the question is incorrect or the answer options are incorrect.