Question

How much time will it take for the sound of thunder to travel $15000$ meters if sound travels at the speed of $330{\text{ m/sec}}$ ?

Answer 1

Hint : Speed of a sound wave is defined as distance a particle or point of wave will cover per unit time and as expressed above, it is often expressed in unit m/s. So going by the unit of standard expression of speed we can easily find out the time taken to travel the given distance by sound.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
A sound wave is basically a pressure disturbance that travels through a medium by the particle to particle interaction, one particle applies force on the adjacent particle disturbing it in order to pass the motion and transport the energy. Like any other wave, the speed of sound waves defines how fast the wave is travelling and as asked here in order to find out the time taken to cover a given distance we can use the formula of speed.
As we know that the expression for speed is given by,
${\text{s = }}\dfrac{{\text{D}}}{{\text{t}}}$ ,
Where, s is speed
D is distance travelled
and, t is time taken.
Putting in the given data, we will get,
$330 = \dfrac{{15000}}{{\text{t}}}$
By rearranging, equation will become,
${\text{t = }}\dfrac{{15000}}{{330}}$
On solving we will get,
${\text{t = 45}}{\text{.45}}$ Seconds.

Note :
Speed of any wave depends on the properties of the medium through which a wave is travelling.The faster the sound wave travels, the more will be its speed and the lesser time it will take to cover a distance.