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On the 14th of September, 2015, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration made the first

ID: 294110 • Letter: O

Question

On the 14th of September, 2015, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration made the first direct de- tection of gravitational waves, coined GW150914. The signal came from the merger of two black holes at a distance of 410+160 Mpc, and was detected in both interferometers (one in Hanford, Washington, and the other in Livingston, Louisiana), with a delay of 6.9-0ms. In this tutorial, you will look at the actual LIGO data from the event, reproduce one of the most famous plots in all of physics, and do some back-of-the-envelope calculations to determine some basic properties of the system that created the gravitational waves. 1. The speed of gravity The introduction mentioned that the signal arrived in the two detectors with a time difference of 6.9-04 ms. The two detectors are separated by a distance of 3,002 kilometers. From what you know about general relativity and gravitational waves, is this time difference acceptable for a gravitational wave? What are the maximum and minimum time differences you would expect for a gravitational wave? +0.5 6 marks

Explanation / Answer

According to general theory of reltivity the massive object can curve the spacetime, and also when two massive bodies merges they produce ripples of gravitational waves, based on the special thery of relativity nothing can move faster than light so this gravitational wave moves with the velocity of light through the space time, and pass through the solar system and Earth, this can be detected, according to the details of sensors they are around 3002Km apart, velocity of gravitational wave is equal to light that is 300000Km/ second,

time= distance / time

=3002/300000=10 milli seconds.,

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