distance covered by light when...?

Question

assume that:
on 1st january 1996, at 00:00:00 am, a ray of light was fired into space. with detectors, the distance travelled by it was measured.
assuming that the obstruction in the path of light is negligible, find the distance (in meters) that the light would have travelled from the point of firing on 31st december 1996at 11:59:59 pm.

im doing a quiz..and im stuck on this one..its sort of intelligenct test...but still if anyone can come up with a solution.

Answer 1

Well, I guess it would be one light-year, but you need the answer in meters...
The most exact estimate I know for the speed of light is:
298051833.6 m/s.
So all you need to do is figure out how many seconds are in 1996.
Keep in mind, 1996 was a leap year!
(60 sec/min) * (60 min/hr) * (24 hr/day) * (366 day/year)
= 31622400 seconds/year in 1996

Now, 298051833.6 m/s * 31622400 s = 9425114302832640 meters.

You may want to also give the answer using the more common estimate of the speed of light, 3 × 10^8 m/s.

Feel free to email me for any clarifications.

Answer 2

One light year.

365.25 x 24 x 60 x 60 x 3 x 10^11 m.