Question

During an experiment, a signal from a spaceship reached the ground station in five minutes. What was the distance of the spaceship from the ground station? The signal travels at the speed of light, that is, 3×10⁸ ms⁻¹ .

Answer 1

Here we have, speed = 3×10⁸ m/s 

Time = 5 minute = 5 × 60 s = 300 s 

Using, Distance = Speed × Time 

⇒ Distance = 3 ×10⁸ × 300 m = 900 × 10⁸ m= 9.0 × 10¹⁰ m

Answer 2

Time taken by the signal to reach the ground station from the spaceship

 = 5 min = 5 × 60 = 300 s

Speed of the signal = 3 × 10⁸ m/s

∴ Distance travelled = Speed × Time taken = 3 × 10⁸ × 300 = 9 × 10¹⁰ m

Hence, the distance of the spaceship from the ground station is 9 × 10¹⁰ m.