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Proxima Centauri, our nearest star except for the sun, is about 4·1013 km from Earth. Find to one decimal place its distance in parsecs.

Proxima Centauri, our nearest star except for the sun, is about 4·1013 km from Earth-example-1
User Wxh
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1 Answer

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23 votes

Explanation:

The conversion for parsecs into meters is

1 parsec (pc) =
3.09×10^(16)\:\text {m}

So if Proxima Centauri is
4×10^(13)\:\text{m} away, then in terms of parsecs, this distance is


4×10^(13)\:\text{m}×\left(\frac{1\:\text{parsec}}{3.09×10^(16)\:\text{m}}\right)


\;\;\;\;\;= 1.2×10^(-3)\:\text{parsec}

User Mehdix
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