A ticket winner holds a press conference, which is televised live. A television

Question

A ticket winner holds a press conference, which is televised live. A television viewer hears the sound picked up by a microphone directly in front of the celebrity. This viewer is seated 1.7 m from the television set. A reporter at the press conference is located 5.9 m from the microphone and hears the words directly at the very same instant that the television viewer hears them. Using a value of 333 m/s for the speed of sound, determine the maximum distance between the television viewer and the winner.

Explanation / Answer

If I understand this question correctly, the answer is 3781 km.

The reporter hears the sound after it travels through 5.9 m of air, so he hears it 0.0177 seconds after the sound is made.

The viewer hears the sound after it travels through an unknown distance at the speed of light (EM waves travel at c) and then 1.7 m of air. The 1.7 m of air takes 0.0051 seconds.

The difference in time must be traversed at light speed. In that time, light can travel:

(0.0177 - 0.0051 s)(2.9979 * 108 m/s) = 3.781 * 106 m

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