While navigating in fog off a coastline of...

Question 1 of 31048fy_heal_CREATE_q106_2027

While navigating in fog off a coastline of steep cliffs, you hear the echo of the ships foghorn 5.5 seconds after the signal was sounded. What is the distance to the shore?

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Question 1 of 31048

While navigating in fog off a coastline of steep cliffs, you hear the echo of the ships foghorn 5.5 seconds after the signal was sounded. What is the distance to the shore?

🔍 Key Concepts

• Echo time is a round-trip time (to the cliff and back) so the one-way travel time is half of 5.5 seconds • Use the basic relationship: Distance = Speed × Time • Typical speed of sound in air used on license exams (in feet per second and meters per second)

💭 Think About

• First, decide whether the 5.5 seconds represents one-way travel or out-and-back travel of the sound. How does an echo work? • Once you have the correct one-way time, multiply by an appropriate exam-value for speed of sound in air. What approximate distance in feet do you get? • Compare your calculated distance with the answer choices and see which one is closest in both feet and meters.

✅ Before You Answer

• Be sure you divide the total echo time by 2 before using it in the distance formula • Use a reasonable speed of sound in air (around 1,100 ft/s or about 340 m/s) rather than the speed of a ship or of light • After calculating, check which option best matches your computed distance rather than doing detailed math for every choice