The Earth formed 4.57 × 10^9 years ago. What is this time in seconds?

• A. 2.87 × 10^{15} seconds
• B. 4.57 × 10^{12} seconds
• C. 9.12 × 10^{16} seconds
• D. 1.44 × 10^{17} seconds

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the given time in years: \$4.57 \times 10^{9}$ years.
2. Recall the conversion factors: 1 year = 365 days (ignoring leap years for simplicity), 1 day = 24 hours, 1 hour = 60 minutes, and 1 minute = 60 seconds.
3. Calculate the total number of seconds in one year using the formula: \$1\ \text{year} = 365 \times 24 \times 60 \times 60$ seconds.
4. Multiply the number of seconds in one year by the total number of years to convert the time to seconds: \(\text{Total seconds} = 4.57 \times 10^{9} \times (365 \times 24 \times 60 \times 60)\).
5. Express the final answer in scientific notation by combining the powers of ten and the numerical values obtained from the multiplication.