Final answer:
To compare the mass of the Sun to Mercury, divide the Sun's mass by Mercury's mass. The Sun is roughly 65,000 times more massive than Mercury when we consider and align the powers of ten.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find out how many times larger the mass of the Sun is than the mass of Mercury, we need to divide the Sun's mass by Mercury's mass:
Mass of the Sun = 21.3525×1029 kg.
Mass of Mercury = 328.5×1021 kg.
Therefore, the ratio of the Sun's mass to Mercury's mass is (21.3525×1029) / (328.5×1021) kg.
We divide the two, taking care to use the same power of ten: (21.3525 / 328.5) ×1029-21.
This simplifies to approximately 65,000 ×108, indicating the Sun is about 65,000 times more massive than Mercury.
it's important to keep track of significant figures and the power of ten when comparing such large numbers.