Light from the sun reaches Earth in 8.3 min. The velocity of light is 3.00 108 m/s. Given this info, how would you determine how far the Earth is from the sun?

Question

Light from the sun reaches Earth in 8.3 min. The velocity of light is 3.00  108 m/s. Given this info, how would you determine how far the Earth is from the sun?

Luke Allen · Accepted Answer

#d = 1.49 xx 10^11 "m"#

The distance formula can be used to find velocity, which is defined as the rate of travel.

#"velocity" = "distance"/"time"#

By rearranging this formula, we can find the distance given the travel time and velocity.

#d = vt#

Since we know the velocity and time, we can solve for the distance, but if we enter the provided values;

#d= (3.00 xx 10^8 "m/s")(8.3"minutes")#

Since seconds are the SI unit for time, we must convert 8.3 minutes to seconds as we can see that the units are out of alignment.

#t = (8.3 "minutes")(60 "seconds/minute")=(498 "s")#

We can now solve for distance because our units match up.

#d = (3.00 xx 10^8 "m/s")(498 "s")#

#d = 1.49 xx 10^11 "m"#

Olivia Aldridge · Answer

undefined You can use the following formula to find the distance between the Earth and the Sun: Distance = Velocity of light × Time taken for light to travel. Substitute the given values to get the following result: Distance = (3.00 × 10^8 m/s) × (8.3 min × 60 s/min) ≈ 2.5 × 10^11 meters. This indicates that the Earth is roughly 2.5 × 10^11 meters from the Sun.