Question

Light travels from the sun at 1.12 x 107 miles per minute. The planet, Mars, is approximately 1.42 x 108 miles away from the sun.

What is the approximate amount of time, in minutes, for light to travel from the Sun to Mars? Write your answer in scientific notation rounded to the nearest hundredth.

Answer 1

To calculate the approximate amount of time for light to travel from the Sun to Mars, we can use the formula:

Time = Distance / Speed

Given:
Speed of light = 1.12 x 10^7 miles per minute
Distance from the Sun to Mars = 1.42 x 10^8 miles

Time = (1.42 x 10^8 miles) / (1.12 x 10^7 miles per minute)

To simplify the calculation, we can divide the numerical values and subtract the exponents:

Time = 1.42 / 1.12 x 10^(8 - 7) minutes

Time = 1.27 x 10^1 minutes

Rounding to the nearest hundredth, the approximate amount of time for light to travel from the Sun to Mars is 12.7 minutes in scientific notation.

Answer 2

Time = 1.27 x 10^1 minutes

Explanation:

To calculate the approximate amount of time it takes for light to travel from the Sun to Mars, we can divide the distance between them by the speed of light.

Given:

Speed of light = 1.12 x 10^7 miles per minute

Distance between the Sun and Mars = 1.42 x 10^8 miles

Time = Distance / Speed

Time = (1.42 x 10^8 miles) / (1.12 x 10^7 miles per minute)

Time = (1.42 / 1.12) x 10^(8 - 7) minutes

Time = 1.27 x 10^1 minutes

Rounded to the nearest hundredth, the approximate amount of time for light to travel from the Sun to Mars is 12.70 minutes in scientific notation.