A stone is dropped from the top of a tower 500 m high into a pond of water at the base of the tower. When is the splash heard at the top? Given, g = 10 m s^–2 and speed of sound = 340 m s^–1.

1. Time for the stone to fall:
Using the formula Distance = 1/2 x g x t² , where g = 10 m/s² and distance is 500 meters:
500 = 1/2 x 10 x t²
This yields t = √((500×2)/10) = 10 s. Thus, the stone takes 10 seconds to reach the water.

2. Time for the sound to travel back up:
The sound must travel twice the tower’s height (up and down) at a speed of 340 m/s:
Distance = 2 x Height = 2 x 500 m = 1000 m
Using Distance = Speed x Time:
Time = (1000 m)/(340 m/s) ≈ 2.94 s

Therefore, adding the time for the stone to fall (10 seconds) to the time for the sound to travel back up (approximately 2.94 seconds), the total time taken for the splash sound to be heard at the top of the tower after the stone is dropped is roughly 10 s + 2.94 s = 12.94 s.