Hpw many years equals 1 light year?

Question

Please don't tell me that it's measured in distance rather than time because I already know that and can't you work put how many years equals a light year? Please answer..plus i'll probably choose yours as 'the best answer'

Answer 1

No, you can't "work out how many years equals a light-year". A light-year is not the exact same thing as a year.



You say you know that a light-year is a measure of distance, not time, but you don't seem to really understand that. A light-year is a measure of distance or length, like an inch, a foot, a mile, or a kilometer. A year is a measure of time, like a second, a minute, or a month. You cannot convert one to the other because they don't measure the same thing.



This is like asking how many miles there are in a month. It doesn't make any sense. You're trying compare apples and oranges.

Answer 2

According to NASA, "While in orbit the Shuttle's speed is 17,500 miles per hour." That is approximately 7,823 meters/second.



Light speed is approximately 9,460,530,000,000 kilometers/year.

A shuttle in orbit travels about 246,870,000 kilometers/year.



If light were to stand still at the end of the year, you would have another 9,460,283,100,000 kilometers to go. Divide that by the shuttle's speed and it would take about 38,320 years to catch up?



And that is the same number I came up with when I was trying to see how far 500 light years was so I don't know that I am doing my math right... Simply, a really big number.



I have spent like 2 hours on all of this. Interesting, but not using pen and paper and being 3:30 a.m. there are all kinds of logical mistakes I must be making...

Answer 3

Whether or not you want to hear this it's how far light travels. It's not time, it's distance. But if you want to know how far a light year is I think it's close to a trillion miles. I think I read that in an Arthur C. Clarke book once. So, if you multiply the speed of light (180,000 miles per second) times the amount of seconds in a day (86,400) and then multiply that answer by how many days there are in a year (365) you should get a rough estimate of how far light travels in a year. My calculator can't handle a number that huge.

Answer 4

A light year is a measure of Distance, not time. A light year is the distance light travels in a vacuum and a year is how long it takes Earth to fully revolve around the sun. People like you are why the scientific literacy rate is so low.

Answer 5

Shayna, the reason why astronomers use light years instead of miles or kilometres is because space is simply too damn big. The moon is a quarter of a million miles away. The Sun is 93 million miles. That is our astronomical doorstep. The nearest star, besides our Sun, is something like 25 TRILLION miles away. Again, that is just next door in astronomical terms. It simply is impractical to use miles.



I really don't see what is so hard to understand. Let me reiterate:



- Light travels at a constant speed in a vacuum (i.e. space)

- A light year is the distance light travels in ONE YEAR

- It is approximately 6 trillion miles

Answer 6

Apparently, you don't know it already or at least you have misunderstood it. One light year equals the distance light travels in one year, approximately 5,755,038,580,296 miles. As it is not a measurement of time, and it really isn't, your request for an answer measured in years is nonsensical. Can you measure oranges by counting apples?

Answer 7

Maybe a better question would be "Based on the distance light travels in a year, how long would it take for a human to travel that same distance?" Since humans are not photons, we cannot travel at the speed of light. But, does anybody know how fast we can humanly travel?

Answer 8

1 foot = 12 inches But a foot is connected to me ( I have two of them) How can my foot also be a measurement if distance.



How many people would equal a mile? Ans:2640 people (5280 / 2 feet per person).



How many house's front yards is there to a mile...? If there are 60 second to a minute and 60 minutes to a degree - how many degrees to a hour? How much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Answer 9

The definition of 1 light year is how far a photon can travel in one year in a vacuum. The photon only sees time as less than an instant and time is actually zero. It is a hard concept for me to understand but the photon and I live in different time frames and will never meet while crossing the rye.

Answer 10

A light year is a measure of distance, not time. it is the distance light travels in a year.



It sounds like you are asking an air-headed question like "How many years in a year?" which is just plain silly. A year is a year. The "year" in light year is the same amount of time as a year on your calendar.



This is almost as silly as asking "if a car is traveling at 30 miles an hour, how far does it go in an hour?"



You don't seem to be able to grasp the concept that a "light year" is a distance measurement.



If you really want to twist your panties into knots, try to figure out string theory.

Answer 11

light year has nothing to do with our normal age years!

it is a unit of distance.

9.465 x 10 raised to 15 metres=1 light year

it is the distance travelled by lightin a vaccum during 1 year!

Answer 12

It IS a measured distance. Everyone else explained it but this is what it comes out to. Speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. There are 3600 seconds in an hour. 86400 seconds in a day. Multiply that by 365 and you get 31,536,000 seconds in a year. Now multiply that by our 186,000 and you get MILAGE of 5,865,696,000,000.

Answer 13

This is a pointless question. A light year is a measure of distance. Period. It's about 5.6 trillion miles.

Answer 14

a light year is the distance light travels in a year.







so 1 light year = 1 year

Answer 15

1 year = 365 days

1 light year = 9460730472580.8 kilometres

Answer 16

they call it a light year because it is the distance that light travels in one year! so your answer i on year in a light year??

Answer 17

Your right, it does measure distance.

Traveling at light speed, 1 light year is 1 year.



Good luck and bless,

Ichiban.

Answer 18

Go to answers.tahoo.com/question/index?quid or better still



en.wikipeda.org/wiki/Light-year

Answer 19

500 years make a light year according to the Quran.

Answer 20

I think it is 186,000 years

Answer 21

isnt it like a 1000 or something?