A person is standing at the sea shore. An observer on the ship which is anchored in between a vertical cliff and the person on the shore fires a gun. the person on the shore hears two sounds, 2 seconds and 3 seconds after seeing the smoke of the fired gun. If the speed of sound in the air is 320 `m s^(-1)`-, then calculate :

the distance between the cliff and the observer on the ship.

Explanation

Let the distance between the cliff and the observer be d metre.
Therefore, the second sound heard by the man on the shore travels a total distance of

`(d+d+640)m=(2d+640)m`
Time taken, `t_(2)=3s`
`therefore` Speed of sound = `("Total distancetravelled")/("Time taken")`
or 320 = `(2d+640)/3`
or 960 = 2d + 640
or 2d = 960 - 640 = 320
`therefored=320/2=160m`