Question

The mass of the sun is 1.898 x 10^30 kg. The mass of the moon is 7.3 x 10^22 kg. How many moons equal the sun?

a) 2.6 x 10^7 moons
b) 2.6 x 10^8 moons
c) 2.6 x 10^9 moons
d) 2.6 x 10^10 moons

Answer 1

To find out how many moons would equal the mass of the Sun, divide the Sun's mass by the Moon's mass, resulting in approximately 2.7 × 10⁷ moons, which rounds to option (b) 2.6 × 10¸ moons.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine how many moons would equal the mass of the Sun, you divide the mass of the Sun by the mass of a single moon. Given the mass of the Sun as 1.99 × 10³⁰ kg and the mass of the Moon as 7.36 × 10²² kg, the calculation would be:

Number of moons = Mass of the Sun / Mass of the Moon

= (1.99 × 10³⁰ kg) / (7.36 × 10²² kg)

= 2.7 × 10⁷ moons approximately

Therefore, the correct answer is (b) 2.6 × 10¸ moons, after rounding down to the nearest choice provided in the question.