Question

A Mexican free-tailed bat can detect small objects such as a fly whose size is no smaller than one wavelength of the sound the bat makes. If bats emit a chirp at a frequency of 60.9 kHz, and the speed of sound in air is 337 m/s, what is the smallest fly a bat can detect?

1. 11.0884
2. 14.1004
3. 11.9164
4. 9.46667
5. 6.94561
6. 5.46603
7. 13.3588
8. 14.4309
9. 7.05128
10. 5.53366

Answer 1

The smallest fly a Mexican free-tailed bat can detect using a chirp at a frequency of 60.9 kHz, with a speed of sound at 337 m/s, is approximately 5.53366 millimeters or 0.00553366 meters.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the smallest fly a Mexican free-tailed bat can detect with a chirp at a frequency of 60.9 kHz, where the speed of sound in the air is 337 m/s, we use the formula to calculate the wavelength of the sound:

λ = v / f

where λ (lambda) is the wavelength, v is the speed of sound, and f is the frequency of the sound wave.

Wavelength (λ) = Speed of sound (v) / Frequency (f) = 337 m/s / 60,900 Hz = 0.00553366 meters or 5.53366 millimeters.

So, the smallest fly a Mexican free-tailed bat can detect using sound waves at a frequency of 60.9 kHz is approximately 5.53366 millimeters.