The speed of light is \rm 3.00\times 10^8~m/s. How fast is this in miles per hour (\rm miles/h)? Use the conversion 1 \;{\rm mile} = 1610\; {\rm m}.
3E8m/s x (1 mile/1610m) = ??miles/sec.
??miles/sec x (60 sec/min) x (60 min/hour) = ?? miles/hour.
160
To calculate the speed of light in miles per hour, we need to convert the given speed in meters per second to miles per hour.
First, let's convert the speed of light from meters per second (\(m/s\)) to miles per second (\(miles/s\)). We can use the given conversion factor: \(1 \, \text{mile} = 1610 \, \text{meters}\).
So, dividing the speed of light by 1610 will give us the speed in miles per second:
\[ \frac{3.00 \times 10^8 \, \text{m/s}}{1610 \, \text{miles}} = 1.86633 \times 10^5 \, \text{miles/s} \]
Next, we need to convert the speed from miles per second to miles per hour. Since there are 3600 seconds in an hour, we can multiply the speed by 3600 to get the speed in miles per hour:
\[ 1.86633 \times 10^5 \, \text{miles/s} \times 3600 \, \text{s/h} = 6.71999 \times 10^8 \, \text{miles/h} \]
Therefore, the speed of light is approximately \(6.72 \times 10^8\) miles per hour.