Final answer:
The distance to Mercury from the sun can be calculated by multiplying the time it takes light to reach Mercury (1.92 × 10² seconds) by the speed of light (1.86 × 10⁵ miles per second), resulting in 3.5712 × 10⁷ miles. This distance can then be converted into kilometers.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate how far Mercury is from the sun using the average time it takes for the sun's light to reach Mercury and the speed of light, you would use the formula distance = speed × time. Given the speed of light as 1.86× 10⁵ miles per second, and the time it takes for light to reach Mercury as 1.92 × 10² seconds, multiplying these values gives you the distance in miles.
Distance to Mercury = 1.86× 10⁵ miles/second × 1.92 × 10² seconds = 3.5712 × 10⁷ miles.
To calculate the distance from the Sun to Mercury, we can use the formula: distance = speed * time.
Given that the speed of light is 1.86×10^5 miles per second, and it takes an average of 1.92×10^2 seconds for the Sun's light to reach Mercury, we can substitute these values into the formula and calculate the distance as follows:
distance = (1.86×10^5 miles/second) * (1.92×10^2 seconds) = 3.5712×10^7 miles.
Therefore, Mercury is approximately 3.5712×10^7 miles away from the Sun.
To convert this to kilometers (knowing that 1 mile is approximately 1.60934 kilometers), the calculation would be 3.5712 × 10⁷ miles × 1.60934 km/mile, which gives the distance to Mercury in kilometers.