Question

ad for the distance from the sun tothe earth is 1.5 x 10"m. how long does it take for light from ths sun to reach the eath? give your answer n seconds

Answer 1

Answer:

About 8.3 minutes

Explanation:

Use the formula for velocity as the distance covered by the light divided the time it takes: $[tex]velocity=\frac{distance}{time}$[/tex]

Use the information about the speed of light in vacuum: $300000000 \frac{m}{s} = 3*10^{8} \frac{m}{s}$

and the information you are given regarding the distance between Sun and Earth: $1.5 * 10^{11} m$

to solve the first velocity equation for the unknown time "t":

$velocity=\frac{distance}{time} \\3*10^8\frac{m}{s} =\frac{1.5*10^11 m}{t} \\t=\frac{1.5*10^11 }{3*10^8} s= 500 s$

we can convert second into minutes by dividing by 60: 500 s = 500/60 minutes = 8.3333... minutes