Solved: In 1879, A. A. Michelson made 100 determinations of the velocity of light in air

Chapter 6, Problem 6-85

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In 1879, A. A. Michelson made 100 determinations of the velocity of light in air using a modification of a method proposed by the French physicist Foucault. He made the measurements in five trials of 20 measurements each. The observations (in kilometers per second) follow. Each value has 299,000 substracted from it. Trial 1 1y Table 6-7 Champagne Sales in France Month 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Jan. 2.851 2.541 3.113 5.375 3.633 4.016 2.639 3.934 Feb. 2.672 2.475 3.006 3.088 4.292 3.957 2.899 3.162 Mar. 2.755 3.031 4.047 3.718 4.154 4.510 3.370 4.286 Apr. 2.721 3.266 3.523 4.514 4.121 4.276 3.740 4.676 May 2.946 3.776 3.937 4.520 4.647 4.968 2.927 5.010 June 3.036 3.230 3.986 4.539 4.753 4.677 3.986 4.874 July 2.282 3.028 3.260 3.663 3.965 3.523 4.217 4.633 Aug. 2.212 1.759 1.573 1.643 1.723 1.821 1.738 1.659 Sept. 2.922 3.595 3.528 4.739 5.048 5.222 5.221 5.591 Oct. 4.301 4.474 5.211 5.428 6.922 6.873 6.424 6.981 Nov. 5.764 6.838 7.614 8.314 9.858 10.803 9.842 9.851 Dec. 7.132 8.357 9.254 10.651 11.331 13.916 13.076 12.670 850 1000 740 980 900 930 1070 650 930 760 850 810 950 1000 980 1000 980 960 880 960 Trial 2 960 830 940 790 960 810 940 880 880 880 800 830 850 800 880 790 900 760 840 800