Mercury is 5.8×10

7
km from the sun. Neptune is 4.5×10
10
km from the sun.
How much further is Neptune from the sun than Mercury? (1 point)

Multiply the distances:
(5.8×10
7
)⋅(4.5×10
10
)=(5.8×4.5)⋅(10
7
+10
10
)=26.1×10
17
=2.61×10
18
km

Add the distances together:
(5.8×10
7
)+(4.5×10
10
)=10.3×10
17
=1.03×10
18
km

Subtract the distances by getting the same power of 10:
(4.5×10
10
)−(5.8×10
7
)=(4.5×10
10
)−(0.0058×10
10
)=4.49×10
10
km

Divide the distances:
5.8×10
7

4.5×10
10


=0.78×10
3
=7.8×10
2
km

1 answer

To find out how much further Neptune is from the Sun compared to Mercury, we need to subtract the distance of Mercury from the distance of Neptune.

Given:

  • Distance of Mercury from the Sun: \(5.8 \times 10^7\) km
  • Distance of Neptune from the Sun: \(4.5 \times 10^{10}\) km

First, we express both distances with the same power of 10 for easier subtraction. We can convert \(5.8 \times 10^7\) to the same exponent as \(4.5 \times 10^{10}\):

\[ 5.8 \times 10^7 = 0.0058 \times 10^{10} \]

Now we can subtract the distances:

\[ (4.5 \times 10^{10}) - (0.0058 \times 10^{10}) = (4.5 - 0.0058) \times 10^{10} = 4.4942 \times 10^{10} \text{ km} \]

Thus, \(4.4942 \times 10^{10}\) km or approximately \(4.49 \times 10^{10}\) km is how much further Neptune is from the Sun than Mercury.