A student claims that a loud sound travels faster than a soft one, because it has more energy…

Contributed by StemPy Lab

Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.

A student claims that a loud sound travels faster than a soft one, because it has more energy. At a concert $170\ \text{m}$ from the stage, a soft flute and a loud drum start together. When does each sound reach the student? Is the claim correct?

Need a reminder? The key ideaShow

Frequency $f$ (waves each second, in $\text{Hz}$ ), time period $T = \dfrac{1}{f}$ , wavelength $\lambda$ (compression to compression), and $v = f\lambda$ . The medium sets $v$ ; the source sets $f$ .

The worked solution

Have you tried it?

Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.

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