snas
17-01-2013, 09:11 AM
I have just been reading an article from a US skeptic site regarding UFO's and the constraints put on them by the laws of physics. But while the answer to the question appears, at first fairly obvious (or at least approximately so), the equation given, which I have to assume is correct, produces an answer that at first appears wildly incorrect.
The apprently obvious answer to the highlighted equation below is a bit more than 20 years. ie: once the spacecraft reaches max velocity of 0.5c, it will take 2 years to cover each light year.So how do they come up with the answer below?
"For my model I have chosen a spacecraft with a crew of six that will leave its planet for a planet in the habitable zone of a star 10 light years away. It will be accelerated at a rate of 10 m/s2 (10 meters per second squared) to a velocity of 0.5 times the velocity of light (0.5c, where c is the velocity of light). The time for it to reach this velocity is given by this equation:
t = v/a = 1.5×108/10 = 3.06×107 s = 174 days
(a = acceleration in meters/second squared; v = velocity in meters/second; s = time seconds)"
If 174 days is the correct answer, then clearly I am missing something.
Stuart:shrug:
The apprently obvious answer to the highlighted equation below is a bit more than 20 years. ie: once the spacecraft reaches max velocity of 0.5c, it will take 2 years to cover each light year.So how do they come up with the answer below?
"For my model I have chosen a spacecraft with a crew of six that will leave its planet for a planet in the habitable zone of a star 10 light years away. It will be accelerated at a rate of 10 m/s2 (10 meters per second squared) to a velocity of 0.5 times the velocity of light (0.5c, where c is the velocity of light). The time for it to reach this velocity is given by this equation:
t = v/a = 1.5×108/10 = 3.06×107 s = 174 days
(a = acceleration in meters/second squared; v = velocity in meters/second; s = time seconds)"
If 174 days is the correct answer, then clearly I am missing something.
Stuart:shrug: