French physicist Hippolyte Fizeau set up an experiment where he sent light throu

Question

French physicist Hippolyte Fizeau set up an experiment where he sent light through the gaps in the teeth of a rotating gear to a distant mirror, as shown in this figure. He measured the speed of the light when it bounced back from the mirror. If you performed a similar experiment, what value would you get for the speed of light if the distance to the mirror was 50 meters and you estimated that it took light 3 ? 10-7 seconds to travel that distance and return? (See page 349 of your textbook for more on this experiment.)

2.997 ? 108 meters/second

3.0 ? 108 meters/second    

3.3 ? 108 meters/second

1.7 ? 108 meters/second

6.6 ? 108 meters/second

Explanation / Answer

given

d = 50 m

time taken to return, t = 3*10^-7 s

velocity of light, v = 2*d/t

= 2*50/(3*10^-7)

= 3.3*10^8 m/s

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