Solved 2020 Question Paper ICSE Class 10 Physics — Question 9
Back to all questionsQuestion 7(c)
(i) When a tuning fork [vibrating] is held close to ear, one hears a faint hum. The same [vibrating tuning fork] is held such that it's stem is in contact with the table surface, then one hears a loud sound. Explain. [4]
(ii) A man standing in front of a vertical cliff fires a gun. He hears the echo after 3.5 seconds. On moving closer to the cliff by 84 m, he hears the echo after 3 seconds. Calculate the distance of the cliff from the initial position of the man.
(i) When the stem of the tuning fork is placed in contact with a table top, it sets the table surface in small vibrations but the large number of air molecules in contact with the table surface also start vibrating, thereby producing a loud sound.
(ii) Let the man be standing at distance d from the cliff and v be the speed of sound in air.

For first echo, t1 = = 3.5 s [Eqn i ]
and for second echo, t2 = = 3 s [Eqn ii]
Dividing eqn (ii) by eqn (i)
Hence, the distance of the cliff from the initial position of the man = 588 m