A student creates a scale model of planets where 1 cm is equal to 10,000 kilometers. In this model which planet would have a diameter of approximately 12cm

1 answer

To find out which planet would have a diameter of approximately 12 cm in the scale model where 1 cm represents 10,000 kilometers, we can first calculate the actual diameter of a planet corresponding to 12 cm in the model.

  1. Convert the model diameter to kilometers: \[ \text{Actual diameter} = 12 , \text{cm} \times 10,000 , \text{km/cm} = 120,000 , \text{km} \]

Now, we can compare this value with the actual diameters of the planets in our solar system. The actual diameters (approximately) are:

  • Mercury: 4,880 km
  • Venus: 12,104 km
  • Earth: 12,742 km
  • Mars: 6,779 km
  • Jupiter: 139,820 km
  • Saturn: 116,460 km
  • Uranus: 50,724 km
  • Neptune: 49,244 km

From this, we can see that the planet with an actual diameter close to 120,000 km is Jupiter, which has a diameter of about 139,820 km. Thus, in the scale model, a diameter of 12 cm would correspond to the approximate size of Jupiter.