Halley's comet returns to the vicinity of the sun (and Earth)about once every 76 years.Its last appearance was in 1986.What is the average distance from Halley's comet to the sun,given that the average distance from Earth to the sun is 1.50 $\times$ 10¹¹m? A)6.4 $\times$ 10¹¹ m B)1.8 $\times$ 10¹² m C)2.7 $\times$ 10¹² m D)1.1 $\times$ 10¹³ m E)9.9 $\times$ 10¹³ m

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Halley's comet has a highly elliptical orbit, ranging from a distance of about 0.6 AU (astronomical units) at its closest approach to the sun to about 35 AU at its farthest. The average distance can be calculated as the semi-major axis of the ellipse, which is (0.6+35)/2 = 17.8 AU.

To convert this to meters, we use the conversion factor 1 AU = 1.5×10^11 m, so the average distance from Halley's comet to the sun is:

17.8 AU × 1.5×10^11 m/AU = 2.67×10^12 m

This matches answer choice C.

Halley's Comet Returns to the Vicinity of the Sun (And ×\times×

Halley's Comet Returns to the Vicinity of the Sun (And $\times$