Question

Answer the following questions in scientific notation using three significant figures.

1) How far is your chosen star from the sun (Bernard's Star)?
2) What is the top speed of the fastest space craft (Juno probe)?
3) How long will a spaceship traveling at the speed of light take to reach your chosen star from Earth?
4) How long will it take for the spacecraft to reach your chosen star from Earth?

Answer 1

Using scientific notation, Bernard's Star is 5.98 x 10^16 meters away, Juno's speed is 2.57 x 10^5 m/s, it would take 20.2 years at light speed to reach the star, whereas Juno would take roughly 23,500 years.

Step-by-step explanation:

To answer the student's questions using scientific notation and keeping in mind the speed of light and distances in space:

1. Bernard's Star is approximately 5.98 x 1016 meters from the Sun.
2. The top speed of the Juno probe, one of the fastest spacecraft, is about 2.57 x 105 meters per second (when it did a close flyby of Earth).
3. A spaceship traveling at the speed of light (which is approximately 3.00 x 108 meters per second) would take roughly 6.39 x 108 seconds, or about 20.2 years, to reach Bernard's Star from Earth.
4. Using the speed of the Juno probe, it would take the spacecraft approximately 7.41 x 1011 seconds, which is about 23,500 years, to reach Bernard's Star from Earth.

This exercise underscores the understanding of formidable distances in space and the significance of the speed at which current spacecraft travel in comparison to the speed of light.