Final answer:
The shortest distance between planet Q and planet R is found by subtracting the distance from planet P to each planet, resulting in 2.3 ×
assuming that the distances are provided in scientific notation and that Q and R are on opposite sides of P.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is asking for the shortest distance between planet Q and planet R. To find this, you'll need to subtract the distances from planet P to R and planet P to Q, assuming that Q and R are on opposite sides of P. Because the distance is not provided in the question, let's assume that the distances given are in scientific notation, and the student forgot to include the exponent. So if planet Q is 3.5 × 10^n km from planet P, and planet R is 1.2 ×
from planet P, then the distance between Q and R should be calculated as:
Determine the larger distance (3.5 ×
Determine the smaller distance (1.2 ×
Subtract the smaller distance from the larger one (
×
Compute the subtraction result which will be (2.3 ×
This will give us the shortest distance between planet Q and R, also represented in scientific notation.