∙The Apollo 11 Reflector One of the experiments placed on...

Name: Problem 89, Chapter 25: Physics
Uploaded: 2020-04-03T01:59:03-08:00
Duration: 1 min 19 s
Channel: Nathan Silvano

$\bullet$ The Apollo 11 Reflector One of the experiments placed on the Moon's surface by Apollo 11 astronauts was a reflector that is used to measure the Earth-Moon distance with high accuracy. A laser beam on Earth is bounced off the reflector, and its round-trip travel time is recorded. If the travel time can be measured to within an accuracy of 0.030 $\mathrm{ns}$ , what is the uncertainty in the Earth-Moon distance?

$\bullet$ The Apollo 11 Reflector One of the experiments placed on the
Moon's surface by Apollo 11 astronauts was a reflector that is
used to measure the Earth-Moon distance with high accuracy. A
laser beam on Earth is bounced off the reflector, and its round-trip travel time is recorded. If the travel time can be measured to
within an accuracy of 0.030 $\mathrm{ns}$ , what is the uncertainty in the
Earth-Moon distance?

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Key Concepts

Propagation of Uncertainty

This key concept focuses on determining how measurement inaccuracies in one variable (here, the time measurement uncertainty) affect the uncertainty in a calculated value (the distance). When the total measurement involves a round-trip calculation, the error in the measured time must be appropriately divided to estimate the uncertainty in the one-way distance.

Time-of-flight Measurement

This concept involves measuring the time it takes for a signal, such as a laser pulse, to travel to a distant object and back. In the context of astronomical distances, the round-trip travel time of the laser is recorded and used to calculate the distance based on the known speed of light.

Speed of Light

The speed of light is a fundamental constant used in converting time measurements to distance. Since light travels at a known speed in a vacuum, any measured time delay can be directly translated into a distance, making it an essential factor in laser ranging experiments.

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