Question

Our nearest star (other than the Sun) is 4.2 light-years away. That is, it takes 4.2 years for the light it emits to reach Earth. How far away is it in meters?

Answer 1

3,97078708130496x10^16 meters.

Step-by-step explanation:

First of all you have to know the light speed which is approximately
`299792458(m)/(s)`.

Next you have to know the distance formula that is d = s * t. d stands for distance, s stands for speed, and t stands for time.

Now you have the speed of light that was given above, but, you have time in years and need it to be in seconds to be suppressed with the speed seconds. So we calculate the time in seconds.

For 1 day, you have 24 hours, that's equal to 1440 minutes, that's equal to 86400 seconds. So, using a simple three rule if 1 day is equal to 86400 seconds, 365 days is equal to 31536000 seconds.

Now, you multiply that result ( 31536000 seconds) times 4.2 (Which is the time that takes it to reach the Earth), and you get 132451200 seconds.

Next step is to simply replace the values in the formula, and do the multiplication.

`d=299792458(m)/(s) *132451200s`

`d=3,97078708130496x10^(16)`

Have a nice day.