Chapter 14, Problem 27PCE

To determine: The distance of the cliff form the observer.

Answer: The distance of the cliff from the observer is 266 m.

Explanation:

Given info: The time after which the echo is heard is 1.55 s.

Echo is the reflection of the sound from any object the distance travelled by the sound to be heard as an echo is actually twice the actual distance between th observer and the reflecting object.

The speed of the sound is 343 m/s.

The formula to calculate the distance of the cliff is,

$2d=vt$

Here,

d is the distance between the cliff and the observer.

v is the speed of the sound.

t time after which echo is heard.

Substitute 343 m/s for v and 1.55 s for t.in the above equation.

$\begin{array}{c}2d=\left(343\text{m}/\text{s}\right)\left(1.55\text{ s}\right)\\ d=\frac{1}{2}\left(\left(343\text{m}/\text{s}\right)\left(1.55\text{ s}\right)\right)\\ \approx 266\text{ m}\end{array}$

Thus the distance of the cliff form the observer is 266 m.

Conclusion:

Therefore, the distance of the cliff from the observer is 266 m.