A submarine sonar system sends a burst of sound with a frequency of

AI Thread Summary
A submarine sonar system emits a sound burst at 325Hz, which bounces off an underwater rock face and returns in 8.50 seconds. The wavelength of the sound is 4.71m, allowing the calculation of sound velocity as 1530.75m/s. The total distance traveled by the sound is calculated using the formula d=vt, resulting in 13011.375m for the round trip. Dividing by two gives the distance to the rock face as 6.51km. The discussion highlights the importance of accounting for the round trip of sound in sonar calculations.
k0k
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
A submarine sonar system sends a burst of sound with a frequency of 325Hz. The sound wave bounces off an underwater rock face and returns to the submarine in 8.50s. If the wavelength of the sound is 4.71m, how far away is the rock face? (Ans: 6.51km )

--
v=fλ

λ=wavelength
f=frequency
v=velocity
--
v=fλ
v=325Hz X 4.71m
=1530.75m/s

v=d/t
d=vt
= 1530.75m/s X 8.50s
=13011.375m
=13011.375m/2
=6505.6875m

=6.51km.

What exactly am I doing wrong here? ..
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org


k0k said:
v=dt
d=v/t
This is not correct. What's the definition of speed? (When in doubt, check the units.)

Also: Don't forget that the sound makes a round trip.
 


Oh, my bad, a silly error. I got it now. Thanks for the tip on sound making a round trip. : )
 

Thread 'Errors and significant figures'

I multiplied the values first without the error limit. Got 19.38. rounded it off to 2 significant figures since the given data has 2 significant figures. So = 19. For error I used the above formula. It comes out about 1.48. Now my question is. Should I write the answer as 19±1.5 (rounding 1.48 to 2 significant figures) OR should I write it as 19±1. So in short, should the error have same number of significant figures as the mean value or should it have the same number of decimal places as...
View full post »
Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'

Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'

Let's declare that for the cylinder, mass = M = 10 kg Radius = R = 4 m For the wall and the floor, Friction coeff = ##\mu## = 0.5 For the hanging mass, mass = m = 11 kg First, we divide the force according to their respective plane (x and y thing, correct me if I'm wrong) and according to which, cylinder or the hanging mass, they're working on. Force on the hanging mass $$mg - T = ma$$ Force(Cylinder) on y $$N_f + f_w - Mg = 0$$ Force(Cylinder) on x $$T + f_f - N_w = Ma$$ There's also...
View full post »

Similar threads

How far away is the rock face? (Wavelengths)
Replies
1
Views
3K
Frequency of Reflected Underwater Sound Wave
Replies
2
Views
2K
Submarine sonar doppler problem
Replies
1
Views
5K
Calculating frequency of the second harmonic
Replies
2
Views
2K
How Is the Distance to the Seabed Calculated Using Sonar?
Replies
4
Views
3K
How Does the Doppler Effect Calculate Submarine Depth and Velocity?
Replies
2
Views
4K
How Can the Speed of Sound Help Determine Room Temperature?
Replies
3
Views
3K
Frequency of Moving Sound Source
Replies
11
Views
2K
Resonant Frequency and speed of sound
Replies
4
Views
4K
What is the Lowest Frequency for Maximum Loudness at Point P?
Replies
2
Views
1K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top