Question

The approximate average distances from the sun to Venus and Mercury are listed below:
Venus: 1.08 10^8 kilometers
Mercury: 5.79 10^7 kilometers
How many times farther from the sun is Venus? Write your answer in standard notation, rounding to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

To determine how many times farther Venus is from the Sun compared to Mercury, we can use the given distances.

1. Distance from the Sun to Venus: \( 1.08 \times 10^8 \) kilometers
2. Distance from the Sun to Mercury: \( 5.79 \times 10^7 \) kilometers

Now, we calculate the ratio of the distance from Venus to the distance from Mercury:

\[
\text{Ratio} = \frac{\text{Distance to Venus}}{\text{Distance to Mercury}} = \frac{1.08 \times 10^8}{5.79 \times 10^7}
\]

To simplify this calculation, we can divide the coefficients and the powers of ten separately:

\[
\text{Ratio} = \frac{1.08}{5.79} \times \frac{10^8}{10^7} = \frac{1.08}{5.79} \times 10^{8-7} = \frac{1.08}{5.79} \times 10^1
\]

Calculating \( \frac{1.08}{5.79} \):

\[
\frac{1.08}{5.79} \approx 0.186
\]

Now, multiply by \( 10^1 \):

\[
0.186 \times 10^1 = 1.86
\]

Rounding to the nearest tenth, we find that the approximate answer is:

\[
\boxed{1.9}
\]

This means that Venus is approximately 1.9 times farther from the Sun than Mercury.