Problema Solution
the voyager 1 spacecraft, launched on september 5,1977, is still transmitting to earth. as of Tuesday november 4, 2013, it was about 18,1944,312,707 kilometers from earth. at this rate, how long would it take to get from earth to the nearest non solar star poxima centaur which is 4.22 light years away?
Answer provided by our tutors
From and including: Monday, 5 September 1977 to, but not including Monday, 4 November 2013 there are 36 years, 1 month, 30 days or 13,209 days = 13,209*24 hr = 317,016 hours
t = 317,016 hours the time of the trip
d = 18,1944,312,707 km the distance traveled
the average speed is:
v = d/t
v = 18,1944,312,707/317,016 km/h
we need to find the time t1 needed to travel d1 = 4.22 light years = 4.22 * 9.4605284 × 10^12 km
t1 = d1/v
t1 = (4.22 * 9.4605284 × 10^12)/(18,1944,312,707/317,016)
t1 = 69561756.83 hr
t1 = 7,940.84 years