The speed of light is indeed incredibly fast, traveling at approximately 299,792 kilometers per second in a vacuum. However, the distance between the Sun and the Earth is quite significant, approximately 149.6 million kilometers on average.
When we calculate the time it takes for light to travel from the Sun to the Earth, we divide the distance by the speed of light:
Time = Distance / Speed
Time = 149.6 million kilometers / 299,792 kilometers per second
Time ≈ 499.0 seconds or approximately 8.3 minutes
The reason it takes about 8 minutes for sunlight to reach the Earth is due to the vast distance between the two. Light from the Sun needs to travel across this enormous distance before it reaches our planet. Therefore, even though light is extremely fast, the distance involved is so immense that it takes several minutes for the light to reach us.