Let's calculate how far away a photographer was standing from the Falcon Heavy launch site using the sound delay from the video!
After watching Destin's recent SmarterEveryDay video titled "The Incredible Sounds of the Falcon Heavy Launch", I thought it would be a fun little example problem to calculate how far away the photographer was from the rocket using the sound from the video. We can also check this value using Google maps, since we know where he was standing and where the rocket was launched from.
===== NOTES =====
→ At 3:12 in my video, I say 12,000 to 13,000 kilometers, when obviously I mean meters (so 12 to 13 kilometers)
===== TIMING FROM VIDEO =====
Here's what I think the timing is from the video:
► Launch start = 3:22
► First sound = 3:37
As mentioned at the end of my video, here are the times that I was using for my calculation for the boosters on the way down to land. Let me know if you think they are actually something different!
► See first ignition = 6:13
► Done landing = 6:31
► Sonic booms = 6:47 or 6:48
The difference between seeing the first ignition and the sonic booms would be the time used in the calculation.
===== RELEVANT VIDEOS =====
→ SmarterEveryDay Video
https://goo.gl/Ra9mdB
→ Photographer Trevor Mahlmann
http://photos.tmahlmann.com/
→ Speed of Sound Equation Derivation
https://goo.gl/txELT2
===== THUMBNAIL CREDIT =====
By SpaceX (Falcon Heavy Demo Mission) [CC0 or CC0], via Wikimedia Commons