POLL: The speed of sound (timed poll)

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I've been getting a little annoyed at something I've seen on another board, where people are repeating the same falsehood about the speed of sound in relation to lightning strikes. And I want to see if anyone here has it wrong too. But when you post, I don't want to hear anything about "the right answer" (to avoid spoiling the results), just what you THINK; what you've heard from whatever source you got your knowledge. Or better yet, just post "Voted" or something innocuous like that. In a week's time, when the poll closes, then we can get together, look at the results, and reveal the truth. And so...

EDIT: Note that the 'speed' is set up backwards as seconds per mile or km, in keeping with the lightning distance calculation.

[ September 27, 2006, 16:21: Message edited by: Felinoid ]

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 35 user(s) have voted.
Voting stops at October 03, 2006 16:07 board time.
You may not view the results of this poll until voting has stopped.

Poll Results: The speed of sound (timed poll) (35 votes.)

The speed of sound is... (Choose 1)
* 1 sec/mile (0.6 sec/km) - 26% (9)
* 5 sec/mile (3 sec/km) - 74% (26)

 

What is the point of making a poll about a scientific fact that can be looked up?

 

Well, it's meant more to see what people know without looking it up. To see what people have been told, either correctly or incorrectly.

 

Having studied Fizziks ( ) every year of school, I'm be rather surprised if I was mistaken.

Well, voted anyway.

 

I voted. Not sure where I got my 'version', but I think I voted wrong anyway (the lightning bit).

 

Voted.
I learned that as a small kid. Hope I learned the right thing.

 

voted

 

Had a problem like this for homework last night... basically, [I broke the rules]

I voted for 1.

[ September 28, 2006, 01:00: Message edited by: Saber ]

 

Felinoid, your definition of 'speed' hurts my head. I'm sure you know that what you've asked for is actually the inverse of speed, and in funky units for that matter. Perhaps a more accurate and clearer question would be: "After how many seconds after a lightning flash is the lightning a km/mile away?"

Furthermore, what I've been thought as a kid has been thoroughly replaced by what I've learned in life later on. Although this bit of info by my parents was actually pretty accurate, and supplied in meters per second, for which my parents deserve some praise.

@Saber: Apart from the fact that we were asked to refrain from such answers by Felinoid, you are also blatantly incorrect. (Although I suppose you could be correct, as you never stated for which medium you gave your velocity.) Also, speed does not 'move'.

Yes, I'm a nitpicker.

 

I haven't got the faintest idea.

 

Voted, waiting for results...

 

Voted, then checked whether my 'common sense' was right based on the 'lore' I'd had passed down to me; we'll discuss this some time after the poll closes...

-wait; THIRD?!? Dangit, me landlord's getting renovations done starting around that time, and I'll be without internet for a few weeks! Aw, poop.

 

True. But I'd barely woken up at the time after only 6 hours of sleep, and was of a mood indicated by the title smilie; IOW, not conducive to thinking clearly. But you did get the idea, no?

I find this the most probable explanation for the specific decimal Saber got. The real answer for air is within - I forget the exact term, but it's the standard scientific allowance for variation within a data set, which I think is 10% - of one of the two poll options, while Saber's was a bit farther away from 1 than that.

@jaded:
Sorry. I set it for a week because I thought that would be long enough for a good sample but as short as possible for my own impatience. After all, I can't see the results yet either.

 

Voted. Then looked it up. At least something from my highschool years stuck with me.

 

Well, out of 35 votes, a full quarter have it wrong. It's both disappointing that so many have it wrong and heartening that the majority got it right. The speed of sound, close to the ground, is ~780mph. The higher you get into the atmosphere, the slower it gets (due to thinner air), and at some point it is 720mph. Multiply that by five and you get 3600mph (Mach 5). And 3600 is the number of seconds in an hour. So if Mach 5 is 1 mile/sec, then Mach 1, the speed of sound, is 1 mile every 5 seconds. Doing a plain calculation on 780 leaves 4.615... seconds per mile.

Why did the false answer of 1 sec/mile pop up? More importantly, how did such misinformation spread despite the real answer being known? It's pretty simple, I think. American egocentrism. The idea that our arbitrary mile and our arbitrary second would correspond so nicely as to make this calculation that easy. And the idea that our parents would know more than our science teachers.

[ October 04, 2006, 22:44: Message edited by: Felinoid ]

 

Why is it so disappointing that people got it wrong? The speed of sound is pretty obscure trivia. It's not something I ashamed of not knowing. I'm actually surprised as many people got it right as they did.

 

It is not obscure trivia. Nowhere near.

The knowledge has important, day-to-day applications. For almost everyone.

And one SHOULD be ashamed for not knowing it. And especially ashamed if they got it wrong.