Astronomy math problem?
The diameter of the Sun is 1.4 1011 cm, and the distance to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, is 4.2 ly. Suppose you want to build an exact scale model of the Sun and Proxima Centauri, and you are using a basketball 10 cm in diameter to represent the Sun. In your scale model, how far away would Proxima Centauri be from the Sun?
More Questions From This User See All
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
A basketball with a 10 cm diameter?!?
What? Are you using one of those miniature basketballs?
In any case - since this is you *homework*, you should at least try to work on it a bit further.
Calculate the distance to P. Cent. in centimeters to start out.
Determine what factor you have to divide by to scale the Sun down to 10 cm
(Hint - - 1.4x10^11 / (?) = 10 cm )
Divide the distance to P. Cent by the same factor to figure out how many cm the *scale* model distance would be. Then convert that into kilometers (hint - it will be between 100 km and 1000 km)
Good luck.
Try to figure it out and we'll tell you if you got it right or not.
Please explain what you've tried so far, and where you're getting stuck, and we'll help you out.