Practice Speed of Sound in Physics

Use these practice problems to test your method after reviewing the concept explanation and worked examples.

Worksheet PDF Free Answer-key PDF Family

Quick Recap

The speed of sound is how fast a sound wave travels through a medium.

Sound moves faster in some materials than in others because the medium's particles pass the disturbance along differently.

Showing a random 20 of 50 problems.

Example 1

easy

A wave moves at 343 m/s with period 0.01 s. Find its wavelength. (

\lambda = v T

Example 2

easy

Does sound travel faster in warm air or cold air?

Example 3

easy

Sound covers

850\text{ m}

2.5\text{ s}

. Find its speed.

Example 4

easy

A wave has period

T = 2.0\times10^{-3}\text{ s}

in air at

v = 340\text{ m/s}

. Find its wavelength.

Example 5

easy

True or false: the wave speed equals the speed of the air molecules oscillating.

Example 6

medium

An echo off a cliff returns in 1.5 s. Using 340 m/s, how far away is the cliff?

Example 7

medium

An ultrasound at

5\text{ MHz}

travels in tissue at

1540\text{ m/s}

. Find the wavelength.

Example 8

medium

An echo from a wall returns in

0.6\text{ s}

when sound speed is

343\text{ m/s}

. Find the wall's distance.

Example 9

hard

Use

v = 331 + 0.6 T_C

(m/s) to find the speed of sound at

T_C = -10^\circ\text{C}

and at

T_C = 30^\circ\text{C}

, and the percent change.

Example 10

medium

On a hot day sound travels at 350 m/s; on a cold day at 330 m/s. A 700 Hz tone is played on both days. Find the wavelength difference.

Example 11

challenge

Using

v = \sqrt{\gamma R T/M}

with

\gamma = 1.4

R = 8.314\text{ J/(mol K)}

M = 0.029\text{ kg/mol}

, compute the speed of sound at

T = 300\text{ K}

Example 12

challenge

A whistle of frequency 1000 Hz is on a cliff edge. Sound travels at 340 m/s and the wavelength is asked at two temperatures: 340 m/s and 360 m/s. Find the percentage increase in wavelength.

Example 13

medium

Sonar echo from a submarine returns in

0.8\text{ s}

v = 1500\text{ m/s}

in water. Find the distance.

Example 14

easy

Order the media by sound speed (fastest first): air, water, steel.

Example 15

medium

A boat sends sonar straight down; the echo returns in 0.4 s. If sound travels 1500 m/s in water, how deep is the seabed?

Example 16

easy

400\text{ Hz}

tone has wavelength

0.85\text{ m}

in air. Find the sound speed.

Example 17

easy

Sound travels at 340 m/s. A wave has frequency 170 Hz. Find its wavelength.

Example 18

hard

A sonar pulse in seawater (

v = 1530\text{ m/s}

) takes

1.6\text{ s}

round-trip. Find the depth to the seafloor.

Example 19

easy

1000\text{ Hz}

tone travels at

340\text{ m/s}

. Find its wavelength.

Example 20

challenge

Sound speed in a gas is

v=\sqrt{\frac{\gamma R T}{M}}

. If absolute temperature

T

increases from 288 K to 320 K, by what factor does the speed increase?

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Related Concepts

Sound Wave Speed