How many minutes does it take for light from the sun to reach the earth?
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=197
To calculate the number of minutes it takes for light from the sun to reach the Earth, we need to know the distance between the sun and the Earth, as well as the speed of light.
The average distance from the Earth to the sun is about 93 million miles or approximately 150 million kilometers. The speed of light in a vacuum is approximately 299,792 kilometers per second.
To convert kilometers to miles, multiply by a conversion factor of 0.621371.
First, let's convert the distance from kilometers to miles:
150 million kilometers * 0.621371 (conversion factor) = 93,205,650 miles (approximately)
Now we can calculate the time taken for light to travel this distance:
93,205,650 miles (distance) / 299,792 kilometers per second (speed of light) = 311.41 seconds (approximately)
Since there are 60 seconds in a minute, we can further convert this to minutes:
311.41 seconds / 60 = 5.19 minutes (approximately)
Therefore, it takes approximately 5.19 minutes for light from the sun to reach the Earth.