step 1: Come up with a question you are genuinely curious about and want to try to

Question

make sense of: (i.e how big…, how fast…, how many…, how far…, etc )

Step 2: Figure out a way to make a comparison that could make the answer to
your question more comprehensible

step 3: What is your comparison going to be about? Explain why you are interested in
this/why it would be a useful comparison.

Step 3b: Do the mathematics to make the comparison. This will require calculations
in scientific notation and, likely, estimation.
● Be sure to express your quantity in scientific notation and then make your
comparison
● Keep a careful record of your mathematics and thinking.
● Annotate (explain with notes) your calculations so that anyone looking at your
work can follow your thinking.

Answer 1

Step 1: My question is: How big is the largest known star compared to the size of Earth?

Step 2: I will compare the size of the largest known star with the size of Earth to make the answer more comprehensible.

Step 3: I am interested in this comparison because I want to understand the scale of size in the universe and appreciate the vastness of celestial objects. It would also be useful to have a visual representation of the size difference between the largest known star and Earth.

Step 3b: Let's do the mathematics to make the comparison.

The largest known star is called UY Scuti, and its radius is estimated to be around 1,700 times that of the Sun. Let's assume the radius of the Sun is approximately 696,340 kilometers.

Calculations:

Radius of UY Scuti = 1,700 * Radius of the Sun
= 1,700 * 696,340 km
= 1,184,678,000 km

To compare it with Earth, we need to calculate the ratio of the radius of UY Scuti to the radius of Earth.

Radius of Earth = 6,371 km (approximately)

Ratio = Radius of UY Scuti / Radius of Earth
= 1,184,678,000 km / 6,371 km
= 185,789.38

Therefore, the radius of UY Scuti is approximately 185,789 times larger than the radius of Earth.

Expressed in scientific notation, the ratio is 1.8578938 x 10^5.

This comparison helps us to comprehend the enormous size of UY Scuti compared to our planet.