In the following we will show how to solve simple problems in astronomy. One of the most common type of problem in astronomy (and everyday life, for that matter) is the distance - velocity - time problem. 1. For example, suppose you are driving cross-country at an average speed of 60mph. If you drive for 12 hours how far will you get?
2. How did you solve that problem?
Notice that you used the basic relation that Distance = speed x time, or mathematically, D=Vt, where D is the distance you traveled, V is your average speed (more technically the velocity), and t is the time you traveled.
Now let's do a variation on that problem.
3. Suppose you are driving from Boston to New York. If you travel at an average speed of 50 mph and the distance is 250 miles, how long will the trip take?
Notice that you again used the basic relation D=Vt, but now in the form time = distance/speed, or mathematically, t=D/V.
Let's now do an astronomical version of this problem.
P 4. The space shuttle travels around the Earth in a circular orbit whose circumference is about 25,000 miles. The shuttle's orbital speed is about 17,000 miles/hr. About how long does it take the shuttle to complete one orbit around the Earth? (Notice this is exactly like the driving problem above.)
For example,
5. round off 2.7248283...to three figures.
6. A radar pulse is sent from the Earth to an asteroid, bounces off and returns to Earth. The radar pulse travels at the speed of light (300,000 km/sec) and takes 150 seconds to travel out and return. How far away is the asteroid? (Notice that this is exactly like problem 1 above.)
7. 150 seconds is about how many minutes? (As a quick check on your answer, will the number of minutes be more or less than the number of seconds?)
8. Given this conversion factor, what is the answer to the above problem?
9. what is 10 13 divided by 10 5 ?