Question

A ship sends out ultrasonic waves that return from the seabed and are detected after 2.42 seconds. If the speed of ultrasonic waves through seawater is 1531 m/s, then what is the distance of the seabed from the ship?

Answer 1

Step 1: Given data:

Speed of the wave, $v=1531m/s$,

Time$t=2.42s$,

Step 2: Calculation:

As, Distance = speed $\times$ time

If d is the distance of the seabed from the ship, the wave travels a distance of 2d. So,

$$\begin{gathered} 2d=v\times t \\ d=\frac{v\times t}{2}=\frac{1531\times 2.42}{2}=1852.5m. \end{gathered}$$

Thus, the distance of the seabed from the ship is $1852.5metres.$