How long does light take to reach the Earth from the Sun ?

[amp_mcq option1=”About 4 minutes” option2=”About 8 minutes” option3=”About 24 minutes” option4=”About 24 hours” correct=”option2″]

This question was previously asked in

UPSC NDA-2 – 2017

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The average distance from the Earth to the Sun is approximately 149.6 million kilometers, or about 1.5 x 10^11 meters. The speed of light in a vacuum is approximately 3 x 10^8 meters per second. The time taken for light to travel this distance can be calculated using the formula time = distance / speed.
Time ≈ (1.5 x 10^11 m) / (3 x 10^8 m/s) = 0.5 x 10^3 seconds = 500 seconds.
Converting seconds to minutes: 500 seconds / 60 seconds/minute ≈ 8.33 minutes.
Among the given options, “About 8 minutes” is the closest and most accurate approximation for the time light takes to travel from the Sun to the Earth.

– Distance from Sun to Earth is approximately 1.5 x 10^11 m.
– Speed of light is approximately 3 x 10^8 m/s.
– Time = Distance / Speed.

This travel time is often used to define the Astronomical Unit (AU), where 1 AU is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun. Observing distant celestial objects means looking back in time, as the light we see was emitted minutes, years, or even billions of years ago, depending on the distance.

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