Question

Mercurys average distance fron the sun is 35,000,000 miles. It takes 3 minutes for light to travel from the sun to Mercury. Neptune with an average of 2.8 x 10 to the power or 9 miles from the sun. How many times farther from the sun is Neptune than Mercury? How ling does it take light to reach Neptune?

Answer 1

Answer:

Neptune is 80 times farther from the Sun than Mercury.

It takes 4 hours to reach the light from the Sun to Neptune.

Step-by-step explanation:

Given that the average distance between the Sun and Mercury,

$d_1=35,000,000$ miles $=3.5\times 10^7$ miles.

The time to reach the light from the sun to Mercury, $t_1 = 3$ minutes

Let v m/s  be the speed of light.

So, $v=\frac{d_1}{t_1}\cdots(i)$  [as speed = distance/time]

Now, the average distance between the Sun and Neptune,

$d_2=2.8\times 10^9$ miles.

The ration of the average distance of Neptune and Mercury from Sun,

$\frac{d_2}{d_1}=\frac{2.8\times 10^9}{3.5\times 10^7}$

$\frac{d_2}{d_1}=80\cdots(ii)$

So, Neptune is 80 times farther from the Sun than Mercury.

The time to reach the light from the sun to Neptune,

$=\frac{d_2}{v}$ [as time=distance/speed]

$=\frac{d_2}{d_1/t_1}$ [using equation(i)]

$=\frac {d_2}{d_1}\times t_1$

$=80\times 3$  [using equation(ii)]

=240 minutes

=4 hours [as 1 hour =60 minutes]

Hence, it takes 4 hours to reach the light from the Sun to Neptune.