Question

Radio waves travel at the speed of light. How long would it take the Russians

to send a message to a spacecraft orbiting Mars at a distance of 7.8 x 10^10 m
from Earth?

Answer 1

Radio waves, which are a form of electromagnetic radiation, travel at the speed of light in a vacuum. The time it would take for a message to travel from Earth to a spacecraft orbiting Mars can be calculated using the formula Time = Distance / Speed, where the distance is given as 7.8 × 10^10 m.

Step-by-step explanation:

Radio waves, which are a form of electromagnetic radiation, travel at the speed of light in a vacuum, which is approximately 3.0 × 10^8 m/s. To calculate the time it would take for a message to travel from Earth to a spacecraft orbiting Mars, we can use the formula:

Time = Distance / Speed

Given the distance between Earth and the spacecraft is 7.8 × 10^10 m, the time it would take for the message to reach the spacecraft is:

Time = (7.8 × 10^10 m) / (3.0 × 10^8 m/s) = 260 seconds.