undefined Average speed: \(2.38 \times 10^6 \, \text{m/s}\) Time: \(546.8 \, \text{years}\)

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On a journey to the Alpha Centauri star system, a space probe travels a distance of 4.12×1016 meters in 1.73×1010 seconds. Find its average speed in meters per second and how long did the journey take in light years?

Answer 1

Christopher Ales

Light year is a distance unit. At the specified speed, the journey would take 540 years, nearly.

The average speed is #(4.12 E+16)/(1.73 E+10)# meter/s =2.38 E+03 km/s.

Alpha Centauri is approximately 4.3 light years away, or 2.7 E+05 AU, or 4.05 E+13 km.

The time for journey = #(distance)/(speed) = #4.05 E+13/2.38 E+03 =1.70 E+10# seconds seconds = 5.4 E+02 years, nearly.

For consistency, the answer is rounded to two standard deviations only, depending on whether the data contains two or three standard deviations.

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Answer 2

Josiah Adams

Average speed: (2.38 \times 10^6 , \text{m/s})

Time: (546.8 , \text{years})

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Answer from HIX Tutor

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