Question

The solar wind is made up of ions, mostly protons, flowing out from the Sun at about 400 km/s. Near Earth, each cubic kilometer of interplanetary

space contains, on average, 6 x 10^15 solar-wind ions.

How many miles of ions are in a cubic kilometer of near- Earth space?

Answer 1

There are
`6* 10^(12)` miles of ions in a cubic kilometer of near-Earth space.

Step-by-step explanation:

In this context, we must be clear on stating that words miles is a synonym for thousands. In other words, the question may be rewritten to this form: How many thousand of ions are in a cubic kilometer of near-Earth space? In engineering notation, a thousand is represented by:

`x = 10^(3)`

As we know the average quantity of solar-wind ions in a cubic kilometer of interplanetary space near Earth, we need to make quick conversion to determine the quantity of miles of ions by this formula:

`y = n\cdot 10^(-3)`

Where:

`n` - Quantity of solar-wind ions, measured in units.

`y` - Quantity of solar-wind ions, measured in thousands (or miles).

If we know that
`n = 6* 10^(15)\,units`, then:

`y = (6* 10^(15)\,units)\cdot \left(10^(-3)\,(miles)/(unit) \right)`

`y = 6* 10^(12)\,miles`

There are
`6* 10^(12)` miles of ions in a cubic kilometer of near-Earth space.