Question

Conversations with astronauts on the lunar surface were characterized by a kind of echo in which the earthbound person’s voice was so loud in the astronaut’s space helmet that it was picked up by the astronaut’s microphone and transmitted back to Earth. It is reasonable to assume that the echo time equals the time necessary for the radio wave to travel from the Earth to the Moon and back (that is, neglecting any time delays in the electronic equipment). Calculate the distance from Earth to the Moon given that the echo time was 2.56 s and that radio waves travel at the speed of light (3.00×108 m/s) .

Answer 1

3.85*10^8m

Step-by-step explanation:

We know that

Speed v = distance/time t

So distance = v x t

So = 3*10^8 x 2.56s

= distatance = 7.7*10^8m

However this is double the distance from the earth to the moon, so to get distance from earth to the moon we divide by 2

7.7*10^8/2= 3.85*10^8m