SAMPLE: History: Titanic 1

Title: Well, She Sure Made Waves!

Background: The Titanic and the story of her sinking continue to hold an enormous fascination for scientist and historian alike. But, why learn about her? Because, she's all about waves, speed and sound.

Questions:

1. Titanic steamed toward tragedy through what type of mechanical ocean wave?

2. A quiet ocean-bottom tomb now, what type of mechanical wave sweeps gently along her hull?

3. What did reports state about the amplitude of the waves at the time of the collision with the iceberg?

4. Use the image at: http://members.aol.com/lorbus/Titanicgray.jpg to help you determine the distance from the crow's nest to the bridge. Now, as the lookout in the crow's nest frantically rang the warning bell after spotting the iceberg, how long would it have taken the clanging to reach the bridge in 1⁰ air?

5. a) In one leg, Titanic steamed 500 miles in 24 hr. What was her speed in m/s? (1 mile = 1.609 km)

b) At that speed, she reached the iceberg 37 s after it was spotted. It was how far ahead?

6. Use the following URL's to help you find the distances from Titanic to:

a) Cape Race b) the Carpathia.

http://titanic.gov.ns.ca/wireless.html

http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/USReport/AmInqRep06.html

7. Now, find the time for her wireless telegraph distress calls to have reached these locations. (Hint: the telegraph signals are a form of electromagnetic energy. This type of energy moves at what speed? Look in your notes.)

8. If the sound from the iceberg grinding along her hull reached an albatross in 8.5 s in the 1⁰ air, the bird was gliding past at what distance?

9. If it takes 1.2 minutes for the Titanic to pass by a point of land, find her: a) period b) frequency.

10. If 13.7 icebergs are seen in 2.6 hr, what is their: a) frequency b) period?

11. In the 1⁰ air, it would take how long for the explosions of her distress rockets to echo from a mystery ship thought to be about 16 km away?