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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsPhysics teacher asked how many seconds were in a year...
Rohita Kadambi @RohitaKadambiIn high school, my physics teacher asked me to figure out how many seconds were in a year. I solved it by multiplying 525,600 by 60 to which my teacher responded why is that something you know off the top of your head?
12:46 AM · Dec 2, 2022
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Physics teacher asked how many seconds were in a year... (Original Post)
bigtree
Dec 2022
OP
hunter
(38,311 posts)1. That's leaving out leap years and other calendar mess.
(365.2422 day / year) X (24 hours / days) X (60 minute / hour) X (60 second / minute) = 31,556,926
525,600 X 60 = 31,536,000
which is a little short
https://pumas.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/examples/04_21_97_1.pdf
TexasTowelie
(112,167 posts)3. Even that calculation has a margin of error of a few seconds
since only seven significant digits were provided for the length of a year, while the answer has eight digits. Upon consideration of that approximation the answer could just as easily be stated as 31,556,930 plus or minus five seconds. We need the length of the year to be defined to eight significant digits to get an answer accurate to plus or minus 0.5 seconds.
hunter
(38,311 posts)4. Careless me!
Alpeduez21
(1,751 posts)2. Alternatively, there are twelve
for the second of each month.
wnylib
(21,447 posts)6. So you were the kid in every class who took
short cuts marching to a different beat.
The one that kids thought was cool
but teachers, not so much.
Alpeduez21
(1,751 posts)8. The principle and I were on very familiar terms n/t
Baitball Blogger
(46,704 posts)5. I just figured out what that song is about!
LOL!
bigtree
(85,996 posts)9. ...chicken dinner!
ProfessorGAC
(65,013 posts)7. I Don't Even Multiply
For whatever reason, I just know there are 31,536,000 seconds in a year, and 31,622,400 in a leap year.
Not sure why those are stuck in my head.
NowsTheTime
(686 posts)10. or....You might remember this rendition? just divide by 4 years
( 2,102,400 X 60) / 4 = 31,536,000