A radar pulse sent out to an airplane at a distance of 24.9 km will return as an echo to the source in what time interval? (c = 3.00 × 10⁸ m/s) A)3.33E-5 s B)8.30E-5 s C)1.66E-4 s D)4.15E-5 s E)4.98E-4 s

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The time interval for the radar pulse to return as an echo is calculated using the formula $time = \frac{distance}{speed}$. Since the radar pulse travels to the airplane and back, the total distance covered is $2 \times 24.9 \, km = 49.8 \, km = 49.8 \times 10^3 \, m$. The speed of the radar pulse is the speed of light, $c = 3.00 \times 10^8 \, m/s$. Therefore, the time interval is $time = \frac{49.8 \times 10^3}{3.00 \times 10^8} = 1.66 \times 10^{-4} \, s$.

A Radar Pulse Sent Out to an Airplane at a Distance