The light-gathering power of a telescope is directly related to the area of the telescope's primary mirror. A mirror with four times the diameter of another mirror collects how many times more light as the smaller mirror does in the same amount of time?

Question

Physics

Melina Rice

23 July, 22:56

The light-gathering power of a telescope is directly related to the area of the telescope's primary mirror. A mirror with four times the diameter of another mirror collects how many times more light as the smaller mirror does in the same amount of time?

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Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Kareem Shelton · Answer 1

16 times

Explanation:

Generally, the light-gathering power of the mirror of a telescope is dependent on the area of the mirror. The area of the mirror is (π*d^2) / 4. The variable 'd' is the diameter of the mirror. Therefore, if the diameter of A is four times the diameter of B, the light-gathering power of A will be (π*4^2) / 4 while that of B will be (π*1^2) / 4. This shows that A has 16 times that of B.