A tuning fork is struck once and its stem is simultaneously touched to the surface of a long wooden table while the fork continues to vibrate in air. A student’s ear is 150m away from the point of contact.
Given: speed of sound in wood =4000m/s; speed of sound in air =340m/s.
(i) Find the time taken for the sound to travel through the wood and reach the far end of the table.
(ii) Find the time taken for the sound to reach the student through air.
(iii) Calculate the time difference between the arrivals of the two sounds. If the ear can perceive two sounds separately only when they are at least 0.10s apart, will the student hear two distinct sounds? Support your answer with calculation.