Final answer:
Upon solving the equation derived from the problem, the mass of a single steel sphere is found to be 20 grams, which does not match any of the provided answer options. It is possible that there is a typo in the question or the answer choices.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks us to determine the mass of a single steel sphere given a comparison between the total mass of six spheres and the combined mass of one sphere and a cylinder. According to the problem, six steel spheres have the same mass as one steel sphere and a cylinder that weighs 100 grams.
Let's denote the mass of one steel sphere as x grams. The equation can then be represented as:
6x = x + 100
To find the value of x, we simply solve the equation:
6x - x = 100
5x = 100
x = 100 / 5
x = 20 grams
However, this solution does not match any of the provided options (a) 600 grams, (b) 100 grams, (c) 1200 grams, (d) 150 grams. It seems there might be a typo in the question or provided options. Therefore, based on our calculations, none of the options is correct.