Ps1
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This document is a physics problem set from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Physics Department dated February 8, 2006. It contains 1 problem asking students to use a composite photograph of a lunar eclipse to calculate the radius of the moon and its distance from Earth in units of Earth's radius using Aristarchus' method. The problem instructs students to draw the umbral shadow on the photograph and note that the shadow's center does not lie on the line connecting the moon and explain why.
Ps1
- 1. MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Physics Department Physics 8.282 February 8, 2006 Problem Set 1 Due: Wednesday, February 15 (in lecture) Reading: Light reading of Zeilik Gregory Chapters 1足1, 2, 3, and 4. Problem 1 Aristarchus Method of Determining the Distance to the Moon Use Chis Cook's composite photograph of a lunar eclipse* to determine the radius of the moon and its distance from the earth (in units of the radius of the earth). The sketch below illustrates the appropriate geometry to use. Make use of small angle approximations. a. Assume that only the darkest part of the Earths shadow (umbra) corresponds to total eclipse. Draw a circle (with a compass if you have one) that best represents the umbral shadow. b. Note that the center of the shadow does not lie on the line connecting the path of the cente