At its closest point, Mercury is approximately 46 million kilometers from the sun. What is this distance in AU?

Sagot :

1 astronomical unit 1 AU = 1.4960 * 10^11 meters
it is the average distance between earth and sun
mercury to sun distance is = 46,000,000 * 1000 meters
               = 4.6 * 10^9 meters = 4.6 * 10^9 / 1.4960 * 10^11  AU
               =  3.0.74 / 100  = 0.0374 AU

Explanation :

Astronomical unit is the unit to find the average distance between the earth and the sun.

[tex]1\ AU=1.496\times 10^8\ Km[/tex]

So, [tex]1\ Km=\dfrac{1}{1.496\times 10^8}\ AU[/tex]

46 million kilometers means, [tex]46\times 10^6\ Km[/tex]

[tex]46\times 10^6\ Km=\dfrac{46\times 10^6}{1.496\times 10^8}[/tex]

[tex]46\ million\ Km=0.3074\ AU[/tex]

Hence, this is the required solution.