Question

The distance from Earth to the Moon is approximately 240,000 mi.. The speed of light is 3.00 * 10^8 m/s. How long does it take for light to travel from Earth to the Moon and back again?. Please Show work.

Answer 1

First we have to convert miles to meters:
1 mile ≈ 1,609.34 m
Time of traveling one way:

`t = (240,000 * 1,609.34m)/(3.00*10^(8)m/s ) = \\ = (8*10 ^(4) *1,609.34s)/(10 ^(8) ) = (8*1,609.34 s)/(10,000)` = 1.28 s
From Earth to the Moon and back time is: 2 · 1.28 s = 2.56 s