Assuming each year has exactly 365 days, how many seconds are there in 10 years?

Difficulty: Medium

Correct Answer: 315360000 seconds

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
This question checks your ability to convert between different time units and to handle large numbers accurately. Converting years into seconds is a common type of estimation in aptitude tests, physics, and computer science, where time intervals are sometimes expressed in seconds.


Given Data / Assumptions:

  • Each year is assumed to have 365 days (ignoring leap years).
  • We want the total number of seconds in 10 such years.
  • 1 day = 24 hours, 1 hour = 60 minutes, 1 minute = 60 seconds.


Concept / Approach:
We first find the number of seconds in one day, then multiply by 365 to get the seconds in one year, and finally multiply by 10 to get the seconds in 10 years. This is a straightforward unit-conversion problem using repeated multiplication.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Compute seconds in 1 minute: 1 minute = 60 seconds.Step 2: Compute seconds in 1 hour: 1 hour = 60 minutes, so 1 hour = 60 * 60 = 3600 seconds.Step 3: Compute seconds in 1 day: 1 day = 24 hours, so 1 day = 24 * 3600 = 86400 seconds.Step 4: Assume 1 year = 365 days. Seconds in 1 year = 365 * 86400.Step 5: 365 * 86400 = 31536000 seconds in 1 year.Step 6: Seconds in 10 years = 10 * 31536000 = 315360000 seconds.


Verification / Alternative check:
We can perform a quick approximation: 365 is close to 3.65 * 10^2 and 86400 is 8.64 * 10^4. Multiplying gives about 3.15 * 10^7 seconds per year, which matches 31536000 exactly. Multiplying by 10 yields about 3.15 * 10^8 seconds, i.e. 315360000, confirming the calculation.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Values like 31523500 or 315354000 are close but not accurate; they reflect small arithmetic mistakes in multiplying 365 * 86400 or scaling to 10 years. 315423000 is also off due to incorrect multiplication. 310000000 is a rounded guess and does not match the exact calculation.


Common Pitfalls:

  • Forgetting that 1 hour has 3600 seconds, not 600.
  • Mixing up the number of days per year or trying to include leap years when the question explicitly fixes 365 days per year.
  • Making multiplication errors when dealing with large numbers.


Final Answer:
There are 315360000 seconds in 10 years of 365 days each.

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