space shuttle travels at about 7.4581x10^3 m/s. An astronaut takes about 1.5933x10^2 ms to blink an eye. How far does the space shuttle travel in that time, expressed to 4 significant figures?
1.5933x10^2 ms = 1.5933x10^-1 s
Multiply that by the speed for the distance traveled in that "blink of an eye". Round the answer to four figures.
To calculate the distance the space shuttle travels in the given time, we need to multiply the velocity of the space shuttle by the time duration of an astronaut's blink.
Given:
Velocity of the space shuttle = 7.4581x10^3 m/s
Time for an astronaut to blink = 1.5933x10^2 ms
First, we need to convert the time taken for the blink from milliseconds (ms) to seconds (s) by dividing it by 1000:
Time for an astronaut to blink = 1.5933x10^2 ms / 1000 = 1.5933x10^2 s.
Now, we can calculate the distance traveled using the formula:
Distance = Velocity × Time
Substituting the values:
Distance = 7.4581x10^3 m/s × 1.5933x10^2 s
To multiply numbers written in scientific notation, we need to multiply the decimal parts and add the exponents:
Distance = (7.4581 × 1.5933) × (10^3 × 10^2) m
Multiplying the decimal parts:
Distance = 11.88057073 × 10^5 m
Now, we need to express the distance to 4 significant figures. Starting from the left-most non-zero digit, we count four digits:
Distance = 11.88 × 10^5 m
Therefore, the space shuttle travels a distance of 11.88 × 10^5 meters in the given time, expressed to 4 significant figures.