Light travels at a speed of 3.0 times 10 to the 8th power m/s. if it takes light from the sun 5.0 times 10 to the 2nd power to read earth, what is the distance between earth and the sun?

You didn't tell what unit goes with the " 5 x 10² ". That would make this question impossible for somebody who doesn't already know the distance.

If it's 5 x 10² minutes, then the distance is

(3 x 10⁸ m/s) x (5 x 10² minutes) x (60 sec/min) = 9 billion kilometers.

I happen to know that's not right.

Now, let's go back and try   5 x 10² seconds.

Distance = (3 x 10⁸ m/s) x (5 x 10² sec) = 150 million km . . . 93.2 million miles.

Much better !