2006-12-01 08:50:27 · 8 answers · asked by Paul C 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Everybody above is right, but I'll do the math for you.
186,000 miles per second is the speed of light so it travels:
186,000 * 3600 * 24 * 365 = 5.8657 trillion miles in a year.
Say about 6 trillion miles in round numbers.
Daniel R below has it right in metric units.
2006-12-01 09:02:01 · answer #1 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A light year is a measurement of distance (not time). The distance length of light year is equal to how far light travels in one year. Light travels at the rate of approximately 186,000 miles per second. (The moon is about 250,000 miles from the earth. The light from the sun that reflects off of the moon takes a little over one second to reach the earth.) 186,000 times 60 seconds times 60 minutes times 24 hours times 365.25 days equals the number of miles in a light year -- you can do the computation.
2006-12-01 09:10:41 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Many people think a light year is a measure of time, but in fact it's a measure of distance - how far light travels in a year. It's 9x10^12 km - ie 9 with 12 zeroes after it, or in other words "a very long way".
2006-12-01 09:04:38 · answer #3 · answered by Daniel R 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The distance light will travel in one year.
Light travels at 186,000 miles per second, so multiply the seconds in a YEAR by that figure and you know the distance of one light year.
2006-12-01 08:56:14 · answer #4 · answered by joanmazza 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The distance light will travel in a year.
2006-12-01 08:53:31 · answer #5 · answered by Barry 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It is the distance that light can travel in one years time..
Light travels at 186,000 miles per second..
2006-12-01 08:58:46 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
A light year is when light travels how much- far in one year.
2006-12-01 08:53:44 · answer #7 · answered by Candy thunder 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It is the distance that a beam of light will travel though a vacuum over the course of one year.
2006-12-01 08:53:12 · answer #8 · answered by Robert A 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋