i just need a little help...with this
A radio signal travels at 3 x 10^8 meters per second. How many seconds will it take for a radio signal to travel from a satellite to the surface of Earth if the satellite is orbiting at a height of 3.54 x 10^7?
time = distance/speed, so
3.54x10^7 / 3x10^8 = 1.18x10^-1
or, 0.118 seconds
thanks
i don’t understand
To calculate the time it takes for a radio signal to travel from a satellite to the surface of the Earth, we need to use the formula:
Time = Distance / Speed
In this case, the speed of the radio signal is given as 3 x 10^8 meters per second. The distance is the total distance traveled by the signal, which includes the height of the satellite above the surface of the Earth.
To get the total distance, we need to add the height of the satellite to the radius of the Earth. The radius of the Earth is approximately 6.37 x 10^6 meters.
So, the total distance can be calculated as:
Total Distance = Height of Satellite + Radius of Earth
Total Distance = 3.54 x 10^7 + 6.37 x 10^6 = 4.17 x 10^7 meters
Now, we can calculate the time it takes for the radio signal to travel from the satellite to the surface of the Earth using the formula:
Time = Total Distance / Speed
Time = (4.17 x 10^7) / (3 x 10^8) = 0.139 seconds
Therefore, it will take approximately 0.139 seconds for a radio signal to travel from the satellite to the surface of the Earth.