Consider a pulse of laser light aimed at the Moon that
bounces back to Earth. The distance between Earth and
the Moon is 3.84 * 108 m. Show that the round-trip
time for the light is 2.56 s.
To calculate the round-trip time for the light, we can use the formula:
Round-trip time = 2 * Distance / Speed
First, let's determine the speed of light. The speed of light in a vacuum is a constant, approximately 3 * 108 meters per second (m/s).
Given:
Distance between Earth and the Moon = 3.84 * 108 m
Speed of light in a vacuum = 3 * 108 m/s
Using the formula, we can calculate the round-trip time:
Round-trip time = 2 * 3.84 * 108 m / 3 * 108 m/s
Simplifying the calculation:
Round-trip time = (2 * 3.84 * 108 m) / (3 * 108 m/s)
Round-trip time = (7.68 * 108 m) / (3 * 108 m/s)
Round-trip time = 7.68 / 3 seconds
Rounding to two decimal places:
Round-trip time = 2.56 s
Therefore, the round-trip time for the light is 2.56 seconds when bouncing between Earth and the Moon.