Question

Calculate the time taken by a sound wave of frequency 1000 Hz and wavelength 50 cm to travel a distance of 500 m.

• A. 1 s
• B. 6 s
• C. 3 s
• D. 12 s

Answer 1

The correct option is A 1 s

The speed of the sound, distance travelled and the time taken relationship is given as follows.
$Speedofsound,v=Distancetravelled\times Timetaken$ ----eqn 1
With the given values of wavelength = 50 cm = 0.5 m and frequency =1000 Hz, the speed of the wave is calculated as follows.
$Speedofsound,v=Frequency\left(\nu \right)\times Wavelength\left(\lambda \right)$ -- eqn 2
That is, $v=\nu \times \lambda =1000Hz\times 0.5m=500m/s$
Substituting the value of the speed of sound in eqn 1 gives the time taken for the sound wave to travel a distance of 500 m.
That is, $Timetaken=\frac{Speedofsound}{Distancetravelled}=\frac{500m/s}{500m}=1second$.
Hence, the time taken for the sound wave to travel is 1 second.