Question

The minimum distance from Earth to the sun is 91.4 million miles. The maximum distance from Earth to the sun is 94.5 million miles. Which of the following equations can model this scenario, where d represents distance between Earth and sun?

A. 94.5 − d = 91.4 94.5 − d = 91.4
B. |d − 91.4| = 94.5|d − 91.4| = 94.5
C. |d −92.95| = 1.55|d −92.95| = 1.55
D. 94.5 + d91.4 94.5 + d91.4

Answer 1

The equation that models the distance between Earth and the sun with 'd' representing the distance is |d - 92.95| = 1.55, reflecting the variation around the average distance.

Step-by-step explanation:

The minimum distance from Earth to the sun is given as 91.4 million miles and the maximum distance is 94.5 million miles. If d represents the distance between Earth and the sun, we can model this distance as a fluctuation around the average distance, which is the midpoint between the two extremes. The midpoint (average distance) is calculated as (91.4 million + 94.5 million) / 2 = 92.95 million miles. The fluctuation (half the difference between maximum and minimum) is (94.5 million - 91.4 million) / 2 = 1.55 million miles. Therefore, the equation that models the scenario correctly is |d - 92.95| = 1.55, which means the distance can vary by 1.55 million miles above or below the average distance of 92.95 million miles.