Question

The distances between some planets are given below.

Planet Q is 3.6 × 10⁶ km from planet P.
Planet R is 1.6 × 10⁷ km from planet P.
Work out the shortest distance between planet Q and planet R.
Give your answer in standard form.

Answer 1

To find the shortest distance between planet Q and planet R, we need to find the difference between their distances from planet P. The distance between planet Q and planet R is the distance of planet R from planet P minus the distance of planet Q from planet P.

The distance between planet Q and planet R is 1.6 × 10⁷ km - 3.6 × 10⁶ km = 1.2 × 10⁷ km.

In standard form, the distance between planet Q and planet R is 1.2 × 10⁷ km, or 1.2 × 10⁷ km.