Question

If the Sun were moved 4 times closer to Earth, how many times brighter would it be?

a) 2 times
b) 4 times
c) 8 times
d) 16 times

Answer 1

The brightness of the Sun would increase by 16 times if it were moved 4 times closer to Earth, due to the inverse square law of light intensity.

Step-by-step explanation:

If the Sun were moved 4 times closer to Earth, the amount of light that we would receive would be 4 squared, or 16 times brighter.

This is because the intensity of light follows the inverse square law, which states that the intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. In simpler terms, if you half the distance, the light becomes four times as strong; conversely, doubling the distance makes it four times weaker. So since moving the Sun 4 times closer reduces the distance by a factor of 4, we square that factor (42 = 16) to get the increase in brightness.