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The earth travels in a circle around the sun once every year. The radius of the circle is 98 million miles. What is the speed of the earth in miles per hour? in centimeters per day?.

User Dnickless
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Final answer:

The Earth's speed around the Sun is approximately 66,000 miles per hour, which can be converted to centimeters per day by using unit conversions. This speed is due to Earth's constant motion in its orbit around the Sun.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Earth travels around the Sun with a radius of 98 million miles (which is approximately 1.5 × 1011 meters). Since it takes one year for the Earth to complete this journey, we can use this information along with the formula for the circumference of a circle (C = 2πr) to find Earth's speed around the Sun.

Calculating the Speed in Miles per Hour

Using the provided conversion factor, we can determine that Earth travels at approximately 66,000 miles per hour around the Sun.

Calculating the Speed in Centimeters per Day

First, we need to convert the speed from miles per hour to centimetres per second. We know that:

  • 1 mile = 160934 centimeters,
  • 1 hour = 3600 seconds,

Therefore, converting 66,000 mph to centimetres per second involves multiplying by 160934 and dividing by 3600. Finally, we multiply the speed in centimetres per second by the total number of seconds in a day (86400) to get the speed in centimetres per day.

It is fascinating to recognize that though we travel this fast, we do not feel it due to Earth's gravitational pull and the lack of resistance in space.

User Caridad
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Final answer:

The speed of the Earth in miles per hour is approximately 584 million miles per day. The speed of the Earth in centimeters per day is approximately 85.6 million centimeters per day.

Step-by-step explanation:

The speed of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun can be calculated using the formula for the circumference of a circle. The radius of the Earth's orbit is given as 98 million miles. The formula for circumference is 2πr, where r is the radius of the circle. Therefore, the circumference of the Earth's orbit is 2π(98 million miles). To convert this speed to miles per hour, we can multiply it by the number of hours in a day (24). The speed of the Earth in miles per hour is approximately 584 million miles per day.



To calculate the Earth's speed in centimeters per day, we can convert the radius of the Earth's orbit from miles to centimeters. There are approximately 1.60934 kilometers in a mile, and 100 centimeters in a meter. Therefore, the conversion factor from miles to centimeters is 1.60934 x 100 = 160,934. The radius of the Earth's orbit in centimeters is 98 million miles x 160,934 centimeters/mile = 15.8 billion centimeters. To calculate the speed in centimeters per day, we can divide the circumference of the orbit (2π(15.8 billion centimeters)) by the number of days in a year (365). The speed of the Earth in centimeters per day is approximately 85.6 million centimeters per day.

User Atrotors
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