SOLUTION: A surface receiving sound is moved from its original position to a position three times farther away from the source of the sound. The intensity of the received sound thus becomes

Question 972982: A surface receiving sound is moved from its original position to a position three times farther away from the source of the sound. The intensity of the received sound thus becomes
A. three times as low.
B. three times as high.
C. nine times as high.
D. nine times as low.
I think it may be C nine times as high
Answer by macston(5194) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
.
Sound varies with the inverse of the square of the distance. A distance three times farther yields:

The intensity at the new distance is 1/9 the original intensity.
The given answers make no sense. Once you decrease an amount 1 time, nothing is left. I think the intended answer is D, but this, too, is wrong. If we take a quantity, say 1, and take nine times it we get 9. Now if we decrease the original 1 by nine times 1 we have 1-0=-8. So even answer D would imply after making the distance three times greater the sound intensity is -8 (if the original intensity is considered as 1). In general, the phrases "three times as low", "three times smaller", or "three times less" have no meaning.

RELATED QUESTIONS
A surface receiving sound is moved from its original position to a position three times (answered by Alan3354)

A plane flies 760 km due north then flies on a bearing of 220� until it is due west of... (answered by josgarithmetic)

A particle is moving according to an equation of motion. Its position after t seconds is... (answered by ikleyn)

A weight is suspended from a spring and vibrating vertically according to the equation... (answered by ikleyn)

The intensity of light and sound both vary inversely as the square of their distance from (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)

Sound intensity varies inversely as the square of the distance from the sound source. If... (answered by josmiceli)

The intensity of light varies inversely as the square of the distance from its source.... (answered by josmiceli)

A 65 foot ladder is leaning against a wall. Its lower end is 285 ft away from the wall.... (answered by ikleyn)

A 65 ft ladder is leaning against a wall. Its lower end is 25 ft away from the wall. How... (answered by josgarithmetic,Alan3354)