How Fast is the Speed of Light?
Find out the real speed of light here!
Light travels at the speed of about 186,000 miles per second.
To put it into context, Earth's circumference is 25,000 miles, so
it would take light 25,000/186,000 = 0.13 seconds to circle earth.
The Moon is about 240,000 miles from earth, so it will take about 1.3
seconds for moonlight (reflected sunlight) to reach earth.
The Sun is about 93,000,000 miles from Earth, so it takes
the sunshine 93,000,000/186,000 = 8 Minutes and 20 seconds to
reach Earth from the Sun. That also means that if the Sun God
decides to turn off the light right now, it would take 8 minutes
and 20 seconds before we would notice it here on Earth.
Conclusion: The speed of light is very fast and the Sun is very
far away.
|
|
|
|
|