Home
Class 11
PHYSICS
The principle of 'parallax' in Art. 1(c ...

The principle of 'parallax' in Art. 1(c ).4. is used in the determination of distacne of very distant stars. The baseline AB in the line joining the Earth's two locations six months apart in its orbit around the sun. That is, the baseline is about the diameter of the Earth 's orbit `~~3xx10^(11)m.` However, even the nearest stars are so distnat thet with such a long baseline, they show parallax only of the order of 1''(second) of arc or so . A parsec is a convenient unit of length on the astronomical scale. It is the distance of an objhect that will shown a parallax of 1'' (second) of arc fome oppsoite ends of a beasline equal to the distance from the Earth to the sun. How much is a parsec in terms of metres ?

Text Solution

Verified by Experts

l= Distance between the sun and earth = length of baseline `AB= 1AU= 1.5xx10^(11)m`
`theta= "Parallax angle"= 1.. = (1^@)/(3600)=(pi)/(180)xx(1)/(3600)` radian
d= 1 parsec =?
As `l= 1.5xx10^(11)m`
`theta=(l)/(d)`
`d=(l)/(theta)`
`=(1.5xx10^(11))/(pi"/"180xx3600)`
`d=3.09xx10^(16)m`
1 parsec is equal to `3.09xx10^(16)m`.
Promotional Banner

Topper's Solved these Questions

  • UNITS AND MEASUREMENT

    MODERN PUBLICATION|Exercise NCERT FILE (ADDITIONAL EXERCISES)|9 Videos
  • UNITS AND MEASUREMENT

    MODERN PUBLICATION|Exercise NCERT FILE (EXEMPLAR PROBLEMS OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS)|18 Videos
  • UNITS AND MEASUREMENT

    MODERN PUBLICATION|Exercise TOUGH AND TRICKY PROBLEMS|6 Videos
  • THERMAL PROPERTIES OF MATTER

    MODERN PUBLICATION|Exercise CHAPTER PRACTICE TEST|15 Videos
  • WAVES

    MODERN PUBLICATION|Exercise CHAPTER PRACTICE TEST|14 Videos
MODERN PUBLICATION-UNITS AND MEASUREMENT-NCERT FILE (TEXTBOOK EXERCISES)
  1. A new unit of length is chosen such that the speed of light in vaccum ...

    Text Solution

    |

  2. Which of the following is the most precise devise for measuring length...

    Text Solution

    |

  3. A student measures the thickness of a human hair by looking at it thro...

    Text Solution

    |

  4. Answer the following : (a) You are given a tread and a metre scale. ...

    Text Solution

    |

  5. The photograph fo a house occupies an area of 1.7cm^2 on a 35 slide. T...

    Text Solution

    |

  6. State the number of significant figures in the following (a)0.007 m^...

    Text Solution

    |

  7. The length breadth and thickness of a metal sheet are 4.234 m 1.005 m ...

    Text Solution

    |

  8. The mass of a box measured by a grocer's balance is 2.300kg. Two gold ...

    Text Solution

    |

  9. A physical quantity P is related to four observables a, b, c and d as ...

    Text Solution

    |

  10. A book with many printing errors contains four different forumlae for...

    Text Solution

    |

  11. A famous relation in Physics relates moving mass m to the rest mass m0...

    Text Solution

    |

  12. The unit of length convenint on the atomic scales is known as an angst...

    Text Solution

    |

  13. One mole of an ideal gas at NTP occupies 22.4 liters (molar volume). W...

    Text Solution

    |

  14. Explain this common observation clearly : If you look out of the windo...

    Text Solution

    |

  15. The principle of 'parallax' in Art. 1(c ).4. is used in the determinat...

    Text Solution

    |

  16. The nearest star to our solar system is 4.29 light years away. How mcu...

    Text Solution

    |

  17. Precise measurements of physical quantities are a need of science. For...

    Text Solution

    |

  18. Just as precise measurements are necessary in science, it is equally i...

    Text Solution

    |

  19. The sun is a hot plasma (ionised matter) with its linner core at a tem...

    Text Solution

    |

  20. When planet Jupiter is at a distance of 824.7 million km from earth, i...

    Text Solution

    |