Earth has a radius of about 6400 km, the sun has a radius of about 7.0*10⁵ km, and a rubber ball has a radius of 6.4 cm. If you were to construct a scale model of the solar system using the rubber ball to represent Earth, what is the radius of a ball needed to represent the sun in your model? A) 7.0*10⁵ cm B) 7.0 cm C) 700 cm D) 70 cm E) 7000 cm

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The ratio of the radius of the sun to the radius of Earth in the real solar system is approximately 109 times larger (7.0 x 10^5 km / 6.4 x 10^3 km). To create a scale model, that ratio needs to be maintained. Therefore, the radius of the model sun would be 109 times larger than the radius of the model Earth, or 6.4 cm x 109 = 696.6 cm, which is closest to C) 700 cm.

Earth Has a Radius of About 6400 Km, the Sun