Interactive Simulator · Time the Echo

Speed and Echoes

An echo is sound reflected from a hard surface. The sound travels to the wall and back, so it covers twice the distance before you hear it. With the speed of sound in air about 340 metres per second, the echo time is two times the distance divided by the speed. Move the wall and notice the trip takes longer the further away it is. Set the distance to land the target echo time.

Mission Set the wall distance for an echo time of 0.4 s. Round 1Streak 0Best 0
If you double the distance to the wall, the echo time:
distance d68 m
speed of sound340 m/s
echo time = 2d ÷ v0.40 s
2 × 68 ÷ 340 = 0.40 s.