Astronomy and light travel time: How long does sunlight take to reach Earth? Give the approximate time delay for light traveling from the Sun to Earth's surface under average conditions. Choose the correct option.

Difficulty: Easy

About 2 minutes
About 4 minutes
About 8 minutes 20 seconds
About 15 minutes

Correct Answer: About 8 minutes 20 seconds

Explanation:

Given

Average Earth–Sun distance ≈ 1 astronomical unit (1 AU) ≈ 1.496 × 10¹¹ m.
Speed of light c ≈ 3.00 × 10⁸ m/s.

Calculation
Time = Distance / Speed = (1.496 × 10¹¹) / (3.00 × 10⁸) s ≈ 498.7 s.498.7 s ≈ 8 minutes 18.7 seconds (commonly rounded to ≈ 8 min 20 s).

Final Answer
About 8 minutes 20 seconds

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