Question

Jupiter is 7.8 * 10 ^ 11 miles from Sol. The speed of light is 3 * 10 ^ 8 meters per second. How many seconds does it take sunlight to reach Jupiter ?

Answer 1

4.16 x 10^6 seconds

Step-by-step explanation:

First, we need to find the distance of Jupiter from the Sun in meters. So, we know that 1 mile has 1609.34 meters. So, 7.8 x 10^11 miles are equivalent to:

`7.8\cdot10^(11)miles*\frac{1609.34\text{ meters}}{1\text{ mile}}=1.25*10^{15\text{ }}meters`

Then, to calculate the number of seconds that the sunlight needs to reach Jupiter, we need to divide the distance from the Sun to Jupiter by the speed of the light as:

`Time=(Dis\tan ce)/(Velocity)=\frac{1.25*10^(15)meters}{3*10^8\text{ meters/second}}=4.16*10^6\text{ seconds}`

Therefore, the sunlight takes 4.16 x 10^6 seconds to reach Jupiter