Suppose the Milky Way makes 10 new stars per year and only 1 out of 5,000 will explode as a supernova. What would be the average time between supernova explosions in the Milky Way?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Out of 10 new stars made per year by the Milky Way, only one out of 5000 will explode as a supernova. This means that on average, there will be 10/5000 = 0.002 supernova explosions per year. To find the average time between supernova explosions, we can take the inverse of this rate: 1/0.002 = 500 years. Therefore, the answer is B) 500 years.

Suppose the Milky Way Makes 10 New Stars Per Year