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The earth takes 24 h to rotate once about its axis. How much time does the Sun take to shift by 1 minute of arc viewed from the earth?

Asked in GUJCET 2023 · Snell's law, slabs and apparent depth

Answer: (3) 4 s

Step-by-step solution

Given: one full turn of 360° in 24 h=86400 s.

Idea: the Sun appears to sweep across the sky at exactly the earth's rotation rate, so angle and time are in direct proportion.

One degree takes (86400)/(360)=240 s, that is 4 minutes.

A minute of arc is 1/(60) of a degree, so it takes (240)/(60).

The Sun shifts by one minute of arc in 4 s.

This is the same arithmetic behind the textbook result that atmospheric refraction, which lifts the Sun by about half a degree, advances sunrise by roughly two minutes.

Why the other options are wrong

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