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This figure shows Hubble's law. If a galaxy is observed to be moving away from us at 30,000 km/s, how far away is it?

User Oya Canli
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Final answer:

To calculate the distance to a galaxy moving away at 30,000 km/s using Hubble's Law, divide the velocity by Hubble's constant of 22 km/s per million light-years, resulting in an approximate distance of 1,363.64 million light-years.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine how far away a galaxy is, if it's observed to be moving away from us at 30,000 km/s, we can use Hubble's Law.

Hubble's Law is expressed as v = H x d, where v is the recessional velocity of the galaxy, H is Hubble's constant, and d is the distance to the galaxy.

The most recent work on Hubble's constant suggests a value of about 22 km/s per million light-years.

To find the distance to the galaxy, rearrange the equation to solve for d: d = v / H.

Using the given velocity of 30,000 km/s and assuming Hubble's constant H is 22 km/s per million light-years, the calculation is as follows:

d = 30,000 km/s ÷ 22 km/s per million light-years

d = 1,363.64 million light-years

Therefore, the galaxy is approximately 1,363.64 million light-years away from us.

User Steven Rumbalski
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