by Wakako Rohlich, Northampton High School
What is a Logarithmic Scale? When and how do we use them? Who initially benefits from knowing them?
Introduction
One Quasar (an extraordinary and perplexing object in the
sky) is 16,000,000,000 light-years away from the Earth. In other word, it is at a distance of
500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 feet. How far is it? Can you even read
it? Well, as a scientist, we must deal
with and represent the distance on a sheet of paper with other objects. How is this possible?
For a human being standing next to a house, we can
scale
them down and it is possible to represent them on a sheet of paper
comparatively. How about a mountain and a human being? How
about a human being against the distance
to a moon?
Well, that is what we will investigate and find a way through this webquest. You may work in pairs using websites or reading textbooks. Anytime you wish, use me as a resource or for guidance.
Ready to continue? Go to the task page.