If the sun is 150,000,000 km away, how many minutes does it take light to travel from the sun to the earth? Assume light travels at a speed of 3.0x10^10 cm/sec
distance = rate x time
I would change 150,000,000 from km to cm first, then substitute into the formula and solve for time (in seconds).;
8.3 minutes
To calculate the time it takes for light to travel from the sun to the earth, we need to convert the distance between the sun and the earth into centimeters, then divide it by the speed of light.
First, let's convert the distance from kilometers (km) to centimeters (cm). Since 1 km is equal to 100,000 cm, we have:
Distance = 150,000,000 km * 100,000 cm/km = 1.5 x 10^16 cm
Now we divide the distance by the speed of light, which is given as 3.0 x 10^10 cm/sec:
Time = Distance / Speed = (1.5 x 10^16 cm) / (3.0 x 10^10 cm/sec)
To divide these numbers, we subtract the exponents and divide the coefficients:
Time = (1.5 / 3.0) x (10^16 / 10^10) = 0.5 x 10^6 = 5 x 10^5 seconds
Finally, we convert the time from seconds to minutes by dividing by 60 seconds/minute:
Time in minutes = (5 x 10^5 seconds) / (60 seconds/minute) ≈ 8.33 x 10^3 minutes
Therefore, it takes approximately 8,330 minutes (or 8,333 minutes rounded to the nearest whole number) for light to travel from the sun to the earth.