Question

The distance from Earth to the sun is approximately 9.3 x 10⁷ miles. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second. How long, in seconds, does it take light from the sun to reach Earth?

a) 5 seconds
b) 17 seconds
c) 500 seconds
d) 1,700 seconds

Answer 1

Light takes approximately 500 seconds to travel from the Sun to Earth, calculated by dividing the distance of 9.3 x 10⁷ miles by the speed of light at 186,000 miles per second.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find out how long it takes light to travel from the Sun to the Earth, we need to divide the distance by the speed of light. The distance from Earth to the Sun is approximately 9.3 x 10⁷ miles and light travels at 186,000 miles per second. By performing the calculation (9.3 x 10⁷ miles) / (186,000 miles/second), we get 500 seconds as the time it takes for light to reach Earth from the Sun. Therefore, the correct answer is (c) 500 seconds.