When I phone Australia my voice takes a second to get there, yet concord would take hours. I'm confused !
2007-02-04 07:05:10 · 14 answers · asked by karlski 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Because when you phone Australia, you talk into the phones microphone, which converts your voice into varying electric waves which the receiver's phone will convert back into your voice. Because your voice is actually traveling in electric waves, either through wires or through a satellite, it travels at the speed of light.
2007-02-04 07:14:32 · answer #1 · answered by Dave 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the average smallest distance between the earth and mars is 48,000,000 miles. In space, which is close to absolute zero (-459.67 F), sound speed would be 375.3mph. So, if you do the math you get a total time of 127,897.68 hours or 14.6 years. Edit: there are some misinformed people here, sound "travels" slower in space due to the fact that it is temperature dependant. That is why I have listed the speed at absolute zero which is the temperature of space. I know sound does not propogate in space, but the question is if you were moving at the speed of sound in space, so the fact that sound in not present in space is a totally different issue. Edit #2: to the ignorant person, read the question. It does not ask IF sound can travel in space. It asks if you could travel at the SPEED of sound. You can see these are two very different questions. Obviously matter is required for sound to travel, but that is not the question asked. And if you do not think sound speed is temperature dependent, then go back to physics class.
2016-03-29 04:46:33 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you could shout loud enough, it would take the same time as Concord for the SOUND of your voice to get to Australia, but when you speak on the phone your voice (sound) is converted to electricity, which is more like the speed of light!
2007-02-04 07:21:06 · answer #3 · answered by jayktee96 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The sound waves created by your voice are not carried down the phone lines, instead it is converted into electrical signal, which can be transmitted at a much faster speed than sound, hence why it takes only a second
2007-02-04 07:17:34 · answer #4 · answered by robb086 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Wrong, Wrong, Wrong - electricity does not travel at the speed of light. And if it did it would only take (12000miles/186000miles per second) 0.06 seconds to travel to Austrailia. You would bearly hear a lag. Electricity is lucky if it can travel at 20 mph through wire. Think of electricity as water in a hose. The hose is filled with water, a wire is filled with easily displaced electrons. Say you got 1000 feet of hose. As soon as you turn on the water, water comes out of the other end 1000 feet away with a slight amount of lag, caused by the resistance of water to want move at all, remember a body at rest tends to stay at rest. (The hose is assumed to already be filled with water, otherwise it would take a few seconds for the water to travel the length of the hose before it came out). Because the water gets displaced. Just as if the biggest guy on the football team decided to sit down at the end of a full bench. The little guy on the other end is going to be forced off his place (with a little lag). If electricity tried to travel at the speed of light through the wire, the wire would instantly be burnt to a crisp from the friction of resistance in the wire. It has been found that cooling the wire down to very very cold temperatures will reduce the resistance to almost zero. This is called a 'superconductor'.
Now, it is true that electromagnetic waves traveling through space to bounce off satellites travels at almost the speed of light. But there are a lot of small 'lags' that add up to the final 'lag' in phone conversation.
2007-02-04 07:55:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Actually, the speed of the electricity in the wires is about 70% of light speed (c), or a bit less. That works out to 200,000 km per second.
If you understand this, then it is the speed of signal propagation in an Ethernet cable.
2007-02-04 07:47:14 · answer #6 · answered by morningfoxnorth 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your speed on the surface of our Globe does not affect the speed of your electromagnetic connections. There are only delays caused by the connections in the phone lines. Electronic messages have the speed of light, as far as I have learned.
2007-02-04 07:19:29 · answer #7 · answered by silberstein_9 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are more than just confused. Consider that it probably takes 90 seconds for sound get across town, yet you can call across town with negligible delay.
2007-02-04 08:23:51 · answer #8 · answered by arbiter007 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The speed of sound is much slower than the speed of electricity.
2007-02-04 07:10:04 · answer #9 · answered by Scabius Fretful 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Over the phone, its not the speed of sound it's the speed of electicity.
2007-02-04 07:08:58 · answer #10 · answered by manc1999 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋