Lunar astronauts placed a series of cube reflectors on the Moon as part of an experiment to mea- sure the distance to the Moon with hyperaccuracy. Lasers were fired from an observatory in West Texas toward the Moon; they reflected off these cubes and returned to Earth. The time of arrival was measured by astronomers at the observatory. If the time for the round trip could be measured with an accuracy of 0.1 nanoseconds, what was the uncertainty in the measured distance to the Moon. Given that the semi-major axis of the Moon’s orbit is 3.84 x 108 km, what is the percent accuracy of these measurements?
Lunar astronauts placed a series of cube reflectors on the Moon as part of an experiment to mea- sure the distance to the Moon with hyperaccuracy. Lasers were fired from an observatory in West Texas toward the Moon; they reflected off these cubes and returned to Earth. The time of arrival was measured by astronomers at the observatory. If the time for the round trip could be measured with an accuracy of 0.1 nanoseconds, what was the uncertainty in the measured distance to the Moon. Given that the semi-major axis of the Moon’s orbit is 3.84 x 108 km, what is the percent accuracy of these measurements?
University Physics Volume 1
18th Edition
ISBN:9781938168277
Author:William Moebs, Samuel J. Ling, Jeff Sanny
Publisher:William Moebs, Samuel J. Ling, Jeff Sanny
Chapter1: Units And Measurement
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 83AP: A marathon runner completes a 42.188-km course in 2 h, 30 min, and 12s. There is an uncertainty of...
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Lunar astronauts placed a series of cube reflectors on the Moon as part of an experiment to mea- sure the distance to the Moon with hyperaccuracy. Lasers were fired from an observatory in West Texas toward the Moon; they reflected off these cubes and returned to Earth. The time of arrival was measured by astronomers at the observatory. If the time for the round trip could be measured with an accuracy of 0.1 nanoseconds, what was the uncertainty in the measured distance to the Moon. Given that the semi-major axis of the Moon’s orbit is 3.84 x 108 km, what is the percent accuracy of these measurements?
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