How long does light from the sun take to reach Earth in minutes?

Light from the sun takes approximately 8 minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth. This distance is about 93 million miles (or 150 million kilometers) away from the sun, and the speed of light is roughly 299,792 kilometers per second (or about 186,282 miles per second).

The reason the correct answer revolves around 8 minutes is due to the precise calculation of time based on this immense distance and the constant speed at which light travels. When you calculate the time it takes light to cover that distance, it results in a little more than 8 minutes but is commonly rounded down for ease of understanding.

The other potential answers reflect common misconceptions or rounded estimates, but they do not accurately convey the actual measured time light takes to travel from the sun to Earth. Understanding this concept is fundamental in grasping not only the nature of light travel but also the scale of our solar system.