I'm not sure if this should be in this section or Astronomy, but I am having trouble with this a question.

If Magellan maps a strip about 25 km wide, what would be the minimum number of orbits Magellan would have to make to cover the entire circumference of Venus (Venus has a diameter of 12,104 km)?

What am I supposed to do?

Thanks

Does anyone know?

I know it has to do with pi and the diameter of venus

12,104 x 3.14 = 38006.56

...then what?

omarina,

The circumference of Venus would be Pi*d = 38006.56 . You split that number in half and get 19003.28. You divide that by 25 km, and you get about 761 orbits.

Thanks Prosoothus,
but I am confused to why you would split 38006.56 in half THEN divide by 25km

omarina,

Thanks Prosoothus, but I am confused to why you would split 38006.56 in half THEN divide by 25km

For example, if Magellan starts scanning at Venus's north pole and travels down to Venus's south pole, the distance it would scan would be equal to about half of Venus's circumference, or 19003.28 km. Now since it can only scan 25 km at a time of that distance, you would divide that number by 25 to get the number of orbits it would take.

Don't try to look at this problem mathematically, try to visualize the actual motion that Magellan would make.