Figure 9 shows two technicians, L and M, measuring the speed of sound in air. L fires a starting pistol. M starts a stopwatch when first seeing the smoke from the starting pistol. M stops the stopwatch when hearing the bang made by the starting pistol. The distance between L and M is 120m. M's reaction time is 0.23 s. The speed of sound in air is 330 m/s. (i) Calculate M's reaction time as a percentage of the time sound takes to travel from L to M.

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Figure 9 shows two technicians, L and M, measuring the speed of sound in air - Edexcel - GCSE Physics - Question 6 - 2023 - Paper 1

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Figure 9 shows two technicians, L and M, measuring the speed of sound in air. L fires a starting pistol. M starts a stopwatch when first seeing the smoke from the s... show full transcript

Worked Solution & Example Answer:Figure 9 shows two technicians, L and M, measuring the speed of sound in air - Edexcel - GCSE Physics - Question 6 - 2023 - Paper 1

Step 1

Calculate the time of travel

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Answer

To find the time it takes for sound to travel from L to M, we can use the formula:

t = \frac{d}{v}

where:

$t$ is the time,
$d$ is the distance (120 m), and
$v$ is the speed of sound (330 m/s).

Substituting the values:

t = \frac{120}{330} = 0.36 \text{ s}

Step 2

Calculate M's reaction time as a percentage

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Answer

M's reaction time is given as 0.23 s. To find this as a percentage of the time sound takes to travel from L to M, we use the formula:

\text{Percentage} = \left( \frac{\text{M's reaction time}}{\text{Time of travel}} \right) \times 100

Substituting the values:

\text{Percentage} = \left( \frac{0.23}{0.36} \right) \times 100 \approx 63\%

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