In an experiment designed to measure the speed of light, a laser is aimed at a m
ID: 1451459 • Letter: I
Question
In an experiment designed to measure the speed of light, a laser is aimed at a mirror that is 46.0 km due north. A detector is placed 149 m due east of the laser. The mirror is to be aligned so that light from the laser refelects into the detector. (a) When properly aligned, what angle should the normal to the surface of the mirror make with due south? (b) Suppose the mirror is misaligned, so that the actual angle between the normal to the surface and due south is too large by 0.0020°. By how many meters (due east) will the reflected ray miss the detector?
Explanation / Answer
a. tan = 149 m / 46000 m = 0.0032391
= 0.18559° = the angle made by the normal to the surface of the
b. mirror with due south ...
= + 0.0020° = 0.18559° + 0.0020° = 0.18759
tan = opposite side opp / adjacent side adj hence opp = adj tan
opp = ( 46000 m ) tan ( 0.18759° ) = 150.607 m
Therefore 150.607 m - 149 m = 1.607m
The reflected ray will miss the detector by a distance of 1.607m
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