Alpha Centauri

lifeunderwate

Suppose you wanted to reach Alpha Centauri in
100 years.
a. How fast would you have to go, in km/hr3
b. How many times faster is the speed you found in (a) than
the speeds ofour fastest current spacecraft (around
50,000 km/hr)?

DaveC426913

A.Centauri is how far away in light years?
How many km are in a light year?
Multiply and you'll get the distance to A.Centauri in km.

100 years is how many hours?

Speed (in km/hr) to A.Centauri = distance (in km) / time (in hours)


Speed is distance divided by time.

Even easier.

You have a speed above, and this comparson speed. Pretty straightforward to divide one by the other.

Why do you need us?

qraal

Even easier. Take the distance to Alpha Centauri - 4.36 light years - and divide by 100 years. That's the fraction of lightspeed you want. Then multiply by the speed of light per hour. Since light moves at 299792458 m/s, by definition, I'll let you work out km/h...