Answer: it takes approximately 4.24 years for light to travel from Proxima Centauri to Earth.
Explanation:
Proxima Centauri is the closest known star to Earth outside of our solar system, located in the Alpha Centauri star system. The distance between Proxima Centauri and Earth is approximately 4.24 light-years.
To calculate the time it takes for light to travel from Proxima Centauri to Earth, we can use the fact that light travels at a speed of approximately 299,792 kilometers per second (or about 299,792,458 meters per second).
Time (seconds) = Distance (meters) / Speed of light (meters per second)
First, let's convert the distance from light-years to meters:
1 light-year ≈ 9.461 × 10^15 meters
So, the distance from Proxima Centauri to Earth is approximately:
4.24 light-years * (9.461 × 10^15 meters/light-year) ≈ 40.11 × 10^15 meters
Now, we can calculate the time it takes for light to travel this distance:
Time = (40.11 × 10^15 meters) / (299,792,458 meters/second)
Time ≈ 133,777.44 seconds
Now, to convert seconds to years, we can divide by the number of seconds in a year:
1 year ≈ 31,536,000 seconds
So, the time it takes for light to travel from Proxima Centauri to Earth is approximately:
133,777.44 seconds / 31,536,000 seconds/year ≈ 4.24 year
