Pre-algebra determine days to travel from Earth to Mars

Question

The distance from Earth to Mars is 148,000,000 miles. A spaceship travels at 33,000 miles per hour. Determine, to the nearest day, how long it will take the spaceship to reach Mars.

Answer 1

First, record the information you are given:

distance = d = 148,000,000mi

speed = v = 33,000mi/hr

We are looking for time t. The best equation we have to compare these is v = d / t.

Isolate t:

t = d / v

Now the next step would be to plug in your known values for d and v, but that's not all that's left! Keep in mind the units of each value (with the given values, you will have a number of hours). You will need to multiply that value by the conversion ratio 1day/24hr, then round to the nearest integer to conform to the specification "to the nearest day".

Answer 2

t = d / r

t = 148000000 mi / 33000 mph

t = 4484.848 hrs.

4484.848 hts. / 24 h/d

186.87 days