what is the difference between travel time for light vs. distance in light years?

Answer 1

The term "light-year" is a measure of distance , not a measure of time. The length of a light-year is about 6,000,000,000,000(6 trillion) miles and is equal to the distance light can travel in one year at its normal speed of 186,000 miles per second.

Answer 2

A light year is the distance that light travels in one year. That means that if a star is 4 light years away, it will take light four years to get there.

Answer 3

The speed of light is approx 300,000 Kilometers per second. So the distance light year is 300,000 x 60 seconds =18,000,000. Multiply that by 60 minutes and you get 18,000,000 Kilometers. Keep multiplying by 24 hours and get 432,000,000 Kilos then 365 days and that will give the distance light will travel in one year or a light year. It is 157,680,000,000 kilometers plus or minus a few thousand kilometers, either way a pretty fer piece to be traveling.

Answer 4

Light will travel until it hits something, so the "travel time" is however long it takes to get from where it came from (the sun...) to wherever it hits (your eye).
A light year is how far light will travel THROUGH A VACUUM in one year. Going through matter slows light down, but the light year distance remains the same.

Answer 5

Your question is a little difficult to understand...

Light travels at 186,000 Miles Per Second.

A light year is the distance that light travels in one year.

So, to get the total distance in Miles that light travels in one year, you multiply:

186,000 Miles Per Second
X
60 Seconds in a minute
X
60 Minutes in an hour
X
24 hours in a day
X
365 Days in a Year

The answer is something around 6 Trillion Miles.

Answer 6

The first is a speed the second is a distance.