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Suppose a student develops a scale model of the planets. Which two planets should be the closest in diameter on the model?



Comparison of Planet Size

Planet Diameter (km)
Mercury 4,800
Venus 12,100
Earth 12,800
Mars 6,700
Jupiter 143,000
Saturn 120,000
Uranus 51,100
Neptune 50,000
(1 point)
Responses

Earth and Venus
Earth and Venus

Uranus and Saturn
Uranus and Saturn

Mars and Jupiter
Mars and Jupiter

Mercury and Neptune

1 answer

To determine which two planets should be the closest in diameter on the scale model, we can look at the diameters provided:

  • Mercury: 4,800 km
  • Venus: 12,100 km
  • Earth: 12,800 km
  • Mars: 6,700 km
  • Jupiter: 143,000 km
  • Saturn: 120,000 km
  • Uranus: 51,100 km
  • Neptune: 50,000 km

Now, let's calculate the differences in diameter for each pair of planets to find the two that are closest in size:

  1. Earth (12,800 km) and Venus (12,100 km) have a difference of 700 km.
  2. Uranus (51,100 km) and Neptune (50,000 km) have a difference of 1,100 km.
  3. Mars (6,700 km) and Jupiter (143,000 km) have a huge difference of 136,300 km.
  4. Mercury (4,800 km) and Neptune (50,000 km) also have a huge difference of 45,200 km.

The smallest difference is between Earth and Venus (700 km), making them the closest in diameter.

Therefore, the correct response is:

Earth and Venus