Competency #9
Answer and Explanation
Suppose Neil Armstrong had dropped a heavy brightly shining flashlight on the surface of the moon. Would Neil have heard the flashlight hit the surface? Would he have been able to see the light shining?
Answer:
Neil would not hear the flashlight hit, but the light would still be visible (assuming the flashlight didn't break when dropped).
Neil would not hear the flashlight because sound requires that there be a medium to transmit the vibrations. There is not an atmosphere to vibrate on the moon, so there is no way to transmit a sound to Neil's eardrum. Now, if there were an instrument on the surface of the moon that detected vibrations that travel through the ground, it would be able to pick up the sound of the flashlight hitting the surface.
Neil could still see the light however, because light does not require a medium to transmit the signal, it can travel through the vacuum of space.