Question

If it takes light 14.4 years to reach the Earth from a star system, how far is it to the star system?

Answer 1

The distance to the star system can be calculated using the formula:

distance = (speed of light) x (time)

where the speed of light is approximately 3.00 x 10^8 meters per second (m/s) and the time is 14.4 years.

However, we need to convert the time to seconds before using this formula. There are 365 days in a year, and 24 hours in a day, and 3600 seconds in an hour. Therefore, we have:

time = 14.4 years x 365 days/year x 24 hours/day x 3600 seconds/hour

time = 4.55 x 10^8 seconds

Substituting the values into the formula, we get:

distance = (3.00 x 10^8 m/s) x (4.55 x 10^8 s)

distance = 1.37 x 10^17 meters

Therefore, the star system is approximately 1.37 x 10^17 meters away from the Earth. This is also known as 14.4 light-years, which is the distance that light travels in one year at the speed of 3.00 x 10^8 m/s.

Answer 2

Answer: 136 trillion kilometers

Step-by-step explanation:

Assuming that the speed of light is constant at 299,792,458 meters per second, we can use the formula:

distance = speed x time

To convert 14.4 years into seconds, we need to multiply by the number of seconds in a year:

14.4 years x 365.25 days/year x 24 hours/day x 60 minutes/hour x 60 seconds/minute = 454,492,800 seconds

Now we can use the formula:

distance = speed x time

distance = 299,792,458 m/s x 454,492,800 s

distance ≈ 136,114,709,600,000 meters

Therefore, the star system is approximately 136 trillion kilometers away from Earth.