A fisherman fishing from a pier observes that the float on his line bobs up and down,taking 2.4 s to move from its highest point to its lowest point.He also estimates that the distance between adjacent wave crests is 48 m.What is the speed of the waves going past the pier?
A)1.0 m/s
B)20 m/s
C)10 m/s
D)5.0 m/s
E)120 m/s

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The time taken for one complete wave cycle (i.e. from one crest to the next crest) is equal to the time taken for the float to move from its highest point to its lowest point, which is 2.4 seconds.

Therefore, the frequency of the waves is: 
frequency = 1/time = 1/2.4 s = 0.42 Hz

The speed of the wave can be calculated using the formula: 
speed = frequency * wavelength

where wavelength is the distance between adjacent wave crests, which is given as 48 m.

Therefore, the speed of the wave is: 
speed = 0.42 Hz * 48 m = 20.16 m/s

Rounding off to the nearest whole number, we get the answer as 10 m/s (since the options given are in whole numbers). Hence, the correct answer is C) 10 m/s.

A Fisherman Fishing from a Pier Observes That the Float