We would be more likely to get an accurate measurement of the distance from Earth to a nearby star if we took the angular measur
ements at times separated by what time interval?
1 answer:
Answer:
6 month interval
Explanation:
The distance to a nearby star in theory is more simple than
one might think! First we must learn about the parallax effect. This is the mechanism our eyes use to perceive things at a distance! When we look at the star from the earth we see it at different angles throughout the earth's movement around the sun similar to how we see when we cover on eye at a time. Modern telescopes and technology can help calculate the angle of the star to the earth with just two measurements (attached photo!) Since we know the distance of the earth from the sun we can use a simple trigonometric function to calculate the distance to the star. The two measurements needed to calculate the angle of the star to the earth caused by parallax (in short angle θ) are shown in the second attached photo.
So using a simple trigonometric function we can solve for d which is the distance of the earth to the star:
In the first attached photo a picture where r is the distance to the star and the base of the triangle is the diameter of the earth.
You might be interested in
Explanation:
- Newton's first law of motion:
"An object at rest (or in uniform motion) remains at rest (or in uniform motion) unless acted upon an unbalanced force
In this situation, we can apply Newton's first law to the keys of the keyboard that are not hit by the fingers of the man. In fact, as no force act on the keys, they remain at rest.
- Newton's second law of motion:
"The acceleration experienced by an object is proportional to the net force exerted on the object; mathematically:
where F is the net force, m is the mass of the object, and a its acceleration"
In this case, we can apply Newton's second law to the keys of the keyboard that are hit by the man: in fact, as they are hit, they experience a downward force, and therefore they experience a downward acceleration.
"Newton's third law of motion:
"When an object A exerts a force on an object B (action force), then object B exerts an equal and opposite force on object A (reaction force)"
Here We can apply Newton's third law to the pair of objects finger-key: in fact, as the finger apply a force on the key (action force), then the key exerts a force back on the finger (reaction force), equal and opposite.