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olyviab
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Homework Statement
Dr.Botha sees a supersonic plane flying horizontally in a straight line, directly overhead. If the plane is flying at a height of 500m above the ground, and Dr.Botha hears a sonic boom 1.00s after the plane flies over him, where is the plane at the instant he hears the boom? Assume the speed of sound in the air is v = 343m/s.
2. The attempt at a solution
First attempt:
For the plane to produce a sonic boom, it must have been traveling at least at the speed of sound. So when the Dr. heard the sonic boom 1 sec after the plane flew over him, the plane must have traveled a distance of 343m in that one sec interval, therefore the plane is located 343m in the direction it was travel away from the doctor.
Second attempt:
Sin(theta) = (speed of sound / speed of plane)
theta = 46 therefore speed of plane = 471.4 and distance= 471.4m
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