A radio wave sent from the surface of the earth reflects fromthe surface of the moon and returns to the earth. The elapsedtime between the generation of the wave and the detection of thereflected wave is 2.6444 s. Determine the distance from thesurface of the earth to the surface of themoon. Note: The speed of light is 2.9979 ´108 m/s. I know the answer is 3.9638 ´ 108 m. Cananyone show me the steps to this problem? A radio wave sent from the surface of the earth reflects fromthe surface of the moon and returns to the earth. The elapsedtime between the generation of the wave and the detection of thereflected wave is 2.6444 s. Determine the distance from thesurface of the earth to the surface of themoon. Note: The speed of light is 2.9979 ´108 m/s. I know the answer is 3.9638 ´ 108 m. Cananyone show me the steps to this problem?
Explanation / Answer
. 1. c = speed of light = 2.9979E+8meters/second 2. t = time = 2.6444 seconds 3. d = c*t = (2.9979E+8 meters/second)*(2.6444seconds) = 792.764676E+6 meters . 4. However, this is the round-trip distancethe radio wave traveled, the distance to the moon is halfthis distance. 5. dearth-to-moon = d/2 =(792.764676E+6 meters)/2 = 396.382338E+6 meters = 3.96382338E+8 meters .