Question

In Earth’s atmosphere, the speed of sound can be approximated using partial variation. The speed of sound is approximately 331 m/s at 0°C and approximately 343 m/s at 20°C.

Jenny yells out “Hello” in a canyon when the air
temperature is 10°C. It takes 1.4 s to hear her
echo. How far away is the wall of the canyon?

Answer 1

Given the info, we can do 343-331=12 and 20-0=20. Then divide both by 2 to get a ratio of 6:10. This indicates that if temperature is 10, speed will be 6 m/s. I order to get the distance, multiply 6 m/s by 1.4 s, the unit s (second) cancels out and the answer is 8.4 m.