PHYS-2325: University Physics-I

HOMEWORK CHAPTER 17:

Khalid Bukhari

Ch-17

SOUND WAVES

1
Suppose you hear a clap of thunder 16.2 s after seeing the associated lightning
stroke. The speed of sound in air is 343 m/s, and the speed of light in air is 3.00 108 m/s.
How far are you from the lightning stroke? Do you need to know the value of the speed of
light to answer? Explain.

2.
A dolphin in seawater at a temperature of 25C makes a chirp. How much time
passes before it hears an echo from the bottom of the ocean, 150 m below?

3.
The area of a typical eardrum is about 5.00 105 m2. Calculate the sound power
incident on an eardrum at (a) the threshold of hearing and (b) the threshold of pain.

4
A driver travels northbound on a highway at a speed of 25.0 m/s. A police car,
traveling southbound at a speed of 40.0 m/s, approaches with its siren producing sound at
a frequency of 2 500 Hz. (A) What frequency does the driver observe as the police car
approaches? And after the police car passes him? (B) Repeat part (A) for the case when the
police car is also traveling north.

PHYS-2325: University Physics-I

Khalid Bukhari

Ch-17

5.
Standing at a crosswalk, you hear a frequency of 560 Hz from the siren of an
approaching ambulance. After the ambulance passes, the observed frequency of the siren
is 480 Hz. Determine the ambulances speed from these observations.

6.
A flowerpot is knocked off a balcony 20.0 m above the sidewalk and falls toward an
unsuspecting 1.75-m-tall man who is standing below. How close to the sidewalk can the
flowerpot fall before it is too late for a warning shouted from the balcony to reach the man
in time? Assume the man below requires 0.300 s to respond to the warning. The ambient
temperature is 20C.

7
Calculate the sound level (in decibels) of a sound wave that has an intensity of 4.00
W/m2.

8
A fireworks rocket explodes at a height of 100 m above the ground. An observer on
the ground directly under the explosion experiences an average sound intensity of 7.00
102 W/m2 for 0.200 s. (A) What is the total sound energy of the explosion? (B) What is the
sound level (in decibels) heard by the observer?