The mass of Venus is about 4.871times10^214.871×1021 metric tons. The mass of the sun is about 1.998times20^271.998×2027 metric tons. About how many times the mass of Venus is the mass of the sun and give your answer in scientific notation?

1 Answer
Sep 3, 2017

The mass of the Sun is approximately 4.102xx10^54.102×105 times that of Venus

Explanation:

Let the mas of Venus be vv
Let the mass of the Sun be ss

Let the constant of comparison be kk

The question states:

How many times the mass of Venus ->vxxk=v×k=
is the mass of the Suncolor(white)("ddddddddd.d")->vxxk=sddddddddd.dv×k=s

=> 4.871xx10^21xxk=1.998xx20^(27)4.871×1021×k=1.998×2027

k=(1.998xx20^27)/(4.871xx10^21)k=1.998×20274.871×1021

Important point: The question uses the word 'about' so they are looking for solution that is not precise. Also they do not state the degree of precision to be applied.

k=0.4101827.... xx10^6

Write as:

k=4.101827...xx10^5

The question presents values to 3 decimal places so we should be quite safe to use the same degree of precision.

State k as k=4.102xx10^5 Approximately