Question

How many light years away is the sun from Jupiter?

Answer 1

Hint: Our solar system is made of a sun and seven planets of which Earth is the third planet and Jupiter is the fifth planet. The distance between sun and Jupiter can be calculated as the sum of distance between sun and Earth and the distance between earth and Jupiter and then convert the distances to light years.

Complete answer:
In our solar system, Jupiter is the largest planet. It is completely made of gasses, its composition being hydrogen and helium. It is the fifth planet of our solar system.
The distance between Earth and Jupiter is $900.16\times {{10}^{6}}km$. While The Earth and the sun are at a distance of $147.1\times {{10}^{6}}km$.
Therefore, the distance between sun and Jupiter is
$900.16\times {{10}^{6}}+147.1\times {{10}^{6}}=1047.26\times {{10}^{6}}km$
Therefore, the distance between the sun and Jupiter is $1047.26\times {{10}^{6}}km$.
We know that, the speed of light is $3\times {{10}^{8}}m{{s}^{-1}}$
Distance travelled by light in one hour is
$3\times {{10}^{8}}\times 3600=108\times {{10}^{10}}m$
Similarly, the distance travelled by light in one day is-
$108\times {{10}^{10}}\times 24=2592\times {{10}^{10}}m$
In one year, light travels a distance of-
$2592\times {{10}^{10}}\times 365=9.5\times {{10}^{15}}m$
Therefore, the distance travelled by the light in one year is $9.5\times {{10}^{15}}m$.
Therefore, we can say that, $1\,light\,year=9.5\times {{10}^{15}}m$.
Number of light years between sun and Jupiter are-
$\begin{align}
& x=\dfrac{1047.26\times {{10}^{6}}km\times {{10}^{3}}}{9.5\times {{10}^{15}}m}light\,years \\
& \Rightarrow x=1.1\times {{10}^{-4}}light\,years \\
\end{align}$
Therefore, Jupiter is $1.1\times {{10}^{-4}}light\,years$ away from the sun.

Note:
Light years is the distance travelled by light in one year. Light is an electromagnetic wave and does not require a medium to travel. The sun is farther away from Jupiter than the Earth. One thousandth part of the mass of the sun is equal to the mass of Jupiter. Other Astronomical units of distances are AU, light seconds etc.