Question

the speed of light is 1.86×10^5 miles per second.how many miles will light travel in 4,200,000 seconds?

Answer 1

Answer:
`7.812*10^(11)\ miles`

Explanation:

Let be "x" the amount of miles light will travel in 4,200,000 seconds.

Rewrite 4,200,000 seconds in Scientific notation. Move the decimal point 6 places to the left. Then:

`4,200,000\ seconds=4.2*10^6\ seconds`

According to the exercise, light travels
`1.86*10^5` miles in 1 second.

Therefore, based on this data, you can set up the following proportion:

`(1.86*10^5\ miles)/(1\ second)=(x)/(4.2*10^6\ seconds)`

And finally, you must solve for "x" in order to find its value.

(Remember the Product of powers property:
`a^m*a^n=a^(mn)`)

Then:

`(4.2*10^6\ seconds)((1.86*10^5\ miles)/(1\ second))=x\\\\x=7.812*10^(11)\ miles`