Question

A man stands in between two parallel cliffs and fires a gun. He hears two successive echoes after 2 seconds and 4.5 seconds. What is the distance between the two cliffs? [Speed of sound = 332 ms⁻¹]

Answer 1

Distance of the man from the nearer cliff \[ d_{1} = \frac{v \times t}{2} \]

\[ d_{1}=\frac{332 \times 2}{2}\]

∴ d₁ = 332 m

Distance of the man from the farther cliff \[ d_{2} = \frac{v \times t}{2} \]

\[d_{2}=\frac{332 \times 4.5}{2} \]

∴ d₂ = 747 m

Total distance between the two cliffs = d₁ + d₂

= (332 + 747)

= 1079 m