The time taken by light to travel from the Sun to the Earth is approximately:
2023
The time taken by light to travel from the Sun to the Earth is approximately:
- A.
8 seconds
- B.
8 minutes
- C.
8 hours
- D.
8 light years
Attempted by 34 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Light travels at a speed of about 3 × 10⁸ m/s (300,000 km/s) in vacuum.
The average distance between the Sun and the Earth is about 1.5 × 10⁸ km (one astronomical unit).
Time = Distance ÷ Speed = (1.5 × 10⁸ km) ÷ (3 × 10⁵ km/s) ≈ 500 seconds ≈ 8 minutes 20 seconds.
So sunlight takes roughly 8 minutes to reach the Earth. (Because Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical, this value varies by a few seconds through the year.) Hence the correct answer is “8 minutes”.