What is the calculation to determine how many Earth minutes have elapsed when the clock face reads 12:36 on the moon?
Calculation for Elapsed Earth Minutes on the Moon
To find out how many Earth minutes have elapsed when the clock face reads 12:36 on the moon, we can use the formula for the period of a pendulum:
T = 2π√(L/g)
Where T is the period, L is the length of the pendulum, and g is acceleration due to gravity.
Given that the length of the pendulum is 1.0 m and the moon's gravity is 1.62 m/s^2, we can calculate the period on the moon using the formula:
T = 2π√(1.0/1.62) = 4.27 seconds
Since the clock is wound when the time shows 12:00, every 4.27 seconds, the pendulum will complete one swing and the clock will tick one minute forward.
To convert the moon's time to Earth time, we need to consider that the moon's day is about 29.5 Earth days long.
Therefore, if 35.33 minutes have elapsed when the clock reads 12:36 on the moon, in terms of Earth time:
35.33 moon minutes x (1 Earth day / 41,760 moon minutes) x (24 hours / 1 Earth day) x (60 minutes / 1 hour) = 0.514 Earth minutes
Hence, 0.514 Earth minutes have elapsed when the clock face reads 12:36 on the moon.