Sound and Wave HELP?

Question

If the speed of sound in air is 335 m/s and you hear an echo 5 seconds later the sound left the source, what is the distance from the

source AND object.

How do you solve this. I don;t know what formula to use and its so CONFUSSING AND DRIVING ME INSANE. Can someone solve step by step to help me understand. Thank you

Answer 1

Ok.  Assuming you heard an echo, it bounced off something (like a mountain or large building.  First, Look at the units.  You have Meters/second and seconds if you multiply Meters/second * seconds, you get Meters.  So the distance from the sound source to what it bounced off and back to you is 335 m/s * 5 sec = 1675 meters.  Assuming that you honked your car horn and heard the sound echoed 5 seconds later, then the distance to the object that the sound bounced off would be 1/2 of 1675 meters or 837.5 meters.  Why?  Because the velocity of the sound is constant so it took the same time for the sound to go from your car horn to the mountain that it did to come back to you.