Final answer:
Light takes approximately 5.65 hours to travel from the Sun to Pluto, based on the average distance of 6.10 × 109 kilometers and the speed of light being 299,792 kilometers per second.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks how long it takes for light to travel from the Sun to Pluto, given that the average distance between them is about 6.10 × 109 kilometers. The speed of light is approximately 299,792 kilometers per second (km/s). To calculate the time it takes for light to reach Pluto from the Sun, we can use the formula time = distance / speed. Here, the distance is the average distance from the Sun to Pluto and the speed is the speed of light.
First, we convert the distance from kilometers to meters (since the speed of light is given in meters per second) by multiplying it by 1000 (1 km = 1000 m).
Distance to Pluto in meters: 6.10 × 109 km × 1000 m/km
This gives us a distance of 6.10 × 1012. Now we can use the formula:
Time = Distance / Speed
Time = 6.10 × 1012 m / 299,792 km/s
To find the time in seconds, we divide the distance by the speed:
Time = 6.10 × 1012 m / 299,792 m/s ≈ 20355.5 seconds
To convert seconds to hours, we divide by 3600:
Time in hours ≈ 20355.5 s / 3600 s/hr ≈ 5.65 hours
Therefore, it takes approximately 5.65 hours for light to travel from the Sun to Pluto. This calculation is based on the average distance; the actual time can vary slightly because the orbit of Pluto is elliptical, leading to varying distances from the Sun.