Question

Global positioning satellites (GPS) can be used to determine your position with great accuracy. If one of the satellites is 20,000 km from you, and you want to know your position to 2m, what percentage uncertainity is required?

Answer 1

Answer:

0.00001 %

Explanation:

The distance from satellite = 20000 km

Position range = 2 m

The percentage uncertainty is given by dividing the distance from satellite by the position range of desired accuracy.

Percentage uncertainty is given by

$\dfrac{2}{20000\times 10^3}\times 100=0.00001\ \%$

The percentage uncertainty that is required is 0.00001 %