Final answer:
Light takes approximately 8 minutes and 20 seconds to travel from the Sun to Earth. This is calculated by dividing the distance of 1.5 × 10⁸ km by the speed of light, which is 3.0 × 10⁵ km/s, and then converting the result from seconds to minutes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student has asked how long it takes for light to travel from the Sun to Earth. We can calculate this using the known distance from the Earth to the Sun and the speed of light. The Earth is approximately 1.5 × 10⁸ km from the Sun, and the speed of light is 3.0 × 10⁵ km/s.
To find the time it takes light to travel from the Sun to Earth, we use the formula:
Time = Distance / Speed
Plugging in the values we get:
Time = (1.5 × 10⁸ km) / (3.0 × 10⁵ km/s) = 500 seconds.
To convert seconds to minutes, we divide by 60:
Time in minutes = 500 seconds / 60 = 8.33 minutes, which is approximately 8 minutes and 20 seconds.
Therefore, light takes approximately 8 minutes and 20 seconds to travel from the Sun to Earth.