Question

The dwarf planet Eris has no atmosphere and has been easier to measure than Pluto. At its largest, the diameter of Eris is 2,338 km. Pluto's largest diameter measures 2,379.8 km. As a percent difference, how much smaller is Eris than Pluto at their largest diameters? (Pluto's diameter is the "reference" value)?  [leave your answer as a percent without the % sign]. Round to two decimal places.

Answer 1

To answer this question, we need to find the difference of both values respecting the one for Pluto as follows:

1. We have that the diameter of Eris is 2,338km.

2. We have that the diameter of Pluto is 2,379.8km.

Then, as a percent difference:

`\%P_{\text{diff}}=\frac{D_(Pluto)-D_{\text{Eris}}}{\text{D}_{\text{Pluto}}}\cdot100`
`\%P_{\text{diff}}=(2379.8-2338)/(2379.8)\cdot100`

Therefore:

`\%P_{\text{diff}}=1.75645012186`

If we round the final result to two decimal places, we finally have:

`\%P_{\text{diff}}=1.76`