What is the length of a nautical mile in the sea of tranquility?hint-the moons radius is 1738km?

Question

what is the length of a nautical mile in the sea of tranquility?hint-the moons radius is 1738km

Answer 1

1 naut.mile = 6080' (by definition).

Circumference of moon = 2pi X 1738 km = 360 degrees

1 degree = 30,333.8 m = 99,494.9 feet

1 naut. mile (on moon) = 6080/99494.9 d = 3'40" arc (there)

[a ratio Earth: Moon :: 61:16]

Answer 2

Radius = 1738 km and keeping the definition of "nautical mile" :

The perimeter = 1738000 * 2 * pi = 10920166.84 m

10920166.84 / (90 deg. * 60 min.) = 2022.253 m

Answer 3

(2π1738)/[(360)(60)]km

Answer 4

The length of a nautical mile is the same anywhere.  It's a nautical mile.  A quick check informs me that's 1,852 metres or 6,076 feet.  The radius of the Moon has no relevance whatsoever.

Answer 5

A nautical mile is defined as 1 minute of latitude.  Assuming the moon is perfectly spherical,

Multiply the radius by 2pi to get the perimeter:

p = 1738*2pi = 10920.176 km

divide by 360 to get the arc-length of one degree*:

10920.176 / 360 = 30.334

Divide by 60 to get the length of 1 minute:

30.334 / 60 = ~.5 km

*Although there are only 90 degrees of latitude from equator to pole, in order to circle the entire perimeter, you have to cross 90 degrees 4 times (90*4 = 360) so there are the same number of latitudinal degrees as longitudinal along the perimeter.

Answer 6

You have received two contradictory answers yet both are correct. But I think you already knew that, isn't it? :-)

A nautical mile is a nautical mile. But if you define it as one minute of latitude on another planet ...

Incidentally, the nautical mile wasn't measured very accurately until the 18th century. This is why Colombus thought the shortest way to the Spice Islands was westward. He was incuded in error by two things:

1) His calculation based on the Italian mile that was believed to be the closest to the Roman one; itself borrowed from the Greeks. But his mile was nearly half the one we know today.

2) His reading of Marco Polo's travelling and the distances covered each day was not very accurate.

An interesting fact is that, after some research, one has found that the old Viking's notation of one day sailing and one day rowing was, in fact, an accurate calculation where sailing was 24 hours at about 6 knots and rowing was the equivalent of 12 hours at 3 knots. Travel descriptions and measured distances seem to confirm that.