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Question

Question: How much light years is Venus far from the Earth?...

How much light years is Venus far from the Earth?

Explanation

Solution

The planets and other bodies in the universe are so far away from the Earth that sometimes they are measured in light years, which is an astronomical unit. The distance that light travels in one year is light years. Light is one of the fastest known objects in the universe.

Complete solution:
The distance of Venus from the Earth is 228.22×106km228.22\times {{10}^{6}}km or 228.22×109m228.22\times {{10}^{9}}m.
The distance that the light travels in one year is known as light years.

We know that the magnitude of speed of light is 3×106ms13\times {{10}^{6}}m{{s}^{-1}}.
Speed is the distance travelled in unit time. Therefore,
s=dts=\dfrac{d}{t}
Here, ss is the speed
dd is the distance
tt is the time taken

From the above equation, the distance travelled by the light in one hour is-
d=s×t d=3×106×3600s d=108×108m \begin{aligned} & d=s\times t \\\ & \Rightarrow d=3\times {{10}^{6}}\times 3600s \\\ & \Rightarrow d=108\times {{10}^{8}}m \\\ \end{aligned}

Similarly, the distance travelled in one day will be-
d=108×108×24=2.6×1011md=108\times {{10}^{8}}\times 24=2.6\times {{10}^{11}}m
Therefore, the distance travelled in one year is 2.6×1011m2.6\times {{10}^{11}}m.

Similarly, the distance travelled in one year will be-
d=2.6×1011×365 d=9.5×1013m \begin{aligned} & d=2.6\times {{10}^{11}}\times 365 \\\ & \Rightarrow d=9.5\times {{10}^{13}}m \\\ \end{aligned}

Therefore, in one year light travels a distance of 9.5×1013m9.5\times {{10}^{13}}m.
In one light year distance travelled is 9.5×1013m9.5\times {{10}^{13}}m.

So, the number of light years required to travel 228.22×109m228.22\times {{10}^{9}}m is-
228.22×109m9.5×1013m=24.02×104lightyears 228.22×109m9.5×1013m=0.0024lightyears \begin{aligned} & \dfrac{228.22\times {{10}^{9}}m}{9.5\times {{10}^{13}}m}=24.02\times {{10}^{-4}}light\,years \\\ & \Rightarrow \dfrac{228.22\times {{10}^{9}}m}{9.5\times {{10}^{13}}m}=0.0024light\,years \\\ \end{aligned}

Therefore, Venus is 0.00240.0024 light years away from Earth.

Note:
Light is an electromagnetic wave and it does not require a medium to travel. In astronomy, an important unit of distance is light years. Another unit used in astronomy is light second. Venus is closer to the sun than Earth and hence hotter. Venus is one of the immediate neighbors of Earth along with Mars. Venus is smaller in size than the Earth and it can be seen in the sky at dawn near the horizon.