Question

Light travels at 2.999 x 10^8 m/sec in a vacuum. calculate the distance light travels (miles) in one year.

Answer 1

9.464x10^15 m/year First, let's calculate how many seconds there is in an year. For a year, I'll use the value of 365.25 days (to account for leap years). So we have 365.35 day/year * 24 hour/day * 60 minute/hour * 60 second/minute = 31557600 sec/year Now multiply by the speed of light. So: 31557600 sec/year * 2.999x10^8 m/sec = 9.4641242x10^15 m/year Rounding to 4 significant figures gives 9.464x10^15 m/year.

Answer 2

Answer: The distance light travels (miles) in one year is $5.86\times 10^{12} miles$

Explanation:

Speed of the light,S = $2.999\times 10^{8} m/s$

Distance covered in 1  year = D

Time taken by the light,T  = 1 year =$1\times 365\times 24\times 60\times 60 seconds=3.15\times 10^{7} seconds$

$Distance=Speed\times Time=D=S\times T$:

$2.999\times 10^{8} m/s\times 3.15\times 10^{7}seconds=9.44685\times 10^{15}m$

1 m = 0.000621 miles

$9.44685\times 10^{15}\times 0.000621 miles =5.86\times 10^{12} miles$

The distance light travels (miles) in one year is $5.86\times 10^{12} miles$