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 × 108m/s.

By BYJU'S Exam Prep

Updated on: September 25th, 2023

During an experiment, a signal from a spaceship reached the ground station in five minutes. The distance of the spaceship from the ground station is 9 x 1010 m. The signal travels at the speed of light, that is, 3 × 108m/s.

Step 1: It is given that: Time taken to reach the ground station by the signal = 5 minutes

= 5 x 60 seconds

= 300 seconds.

Therefore, Speed of the signal = 3 x 108 m/s

Step 2: We can use the formula

Total distance = Speed x Time

Step 3: Now we have to determine the distance of the spaceship from the ground station

Total distance = 3 x 108 x 300 = 9 x 1010 m

Table of content

1. 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 × 108m/s.

Types of Speed

There are four different forms of speed.

Uniform speed
Variable speed
Average speed
Instantaneous speed

If an object travels the same distance in the same amount of time, it is said to be moving at a uniform speed. When an object travels a different distance at equal intervals of time, it is said to be moving at a variable speed. Average speed is the average speed determined by the ratio of the total distance traveled by an object to the entire amount of time it took to travel that distance. Instantaneous speed: The speed of an object at any given moment when it is traveling at a variable speed is referred to as the object’s instantaneous speed. Consequently, the spacecraft’s separation from the ground station is 9 x 1010 m

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