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Pathways to Astronomy

Stephen E. Schneider

Chapter 3

Astronomical Numbers - all with Video Answers

Educators

Chapter Questions

03:45

Problem 1

The radius of the Sun is $7 \times 10^{5}$ kilometers, and that of the Earth is about $6.4 \times 10^{3}$ kilometers. Show that the Sun's radius is approximately 100 times the Earth's radius.

Willis James
Willis James
Numerade Educator
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Problem 2

A typical bacterium has a diameter of about $10^{-6}$ meters. An atom has a diameter of about $10^{-10}$ meters. How many times smaller than a bacterium is an atom?

Sarah Parrigin
Sarah Parrigin
Numerade Educator
00:21

Problem 3

Using scientific notation, show that it takes sunlight about $8 \%$ minutes to reach Earth from the Sun.

Amy Jiang
Amy Jiang
Numerade Educator
01:33

Problem 4

How many 1-kiloton bombs would need to be exploded to produce $3.86 \times 10^{26}$ Joules, the amount of energy emitted by the Sun in 1 second?

Narayan Hari
Narayan Hari
Numerade Educator
02:51

Problem 5

If I want to work out the distance to the Andromeda Galaxy, do I need to be concerned about whether the distance is from the center of the Milky Way or from the Sun's location? Why or why not?

Laszlo Zalavari
Laszlo Zalavari
Numerade Educator
03:37

Problem 6

Suppose two galaxies move away from each other at 6000 $\mathrm{km} / \mathrm{sec}$ and are 300 million $\left(3 \times 10^{8}\right)$ light-years apart. If their speed has remained constant, how long has it taken them to move that far apart? Express your answer in years.

Netra Sharma
Netra Sharma
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
02:48

Problem 7

Using scientific notation, evaluate $\left(4 \times 10^{8}\right)^{3} /\left(5 \times 10^{-6}\right)^{2}$.

Michael Cooper
Michael Cooper
Numerade Educator
02:48

Problem 8

Using scientific notation, evaluate $\left(3 \times 10^{4}\right)^{2} / \sqrt{4 \times 10^{-6}}$.

Michael Cooper
Michael Cooper
Numerade Educator
01:38

Problem 9

Napoleon Bonaparte was reported to be about 5 feet 2 inches tall as reported by contemporaries and at his autopsy. If these were in Paris units, $6.63 \%$ longer than English inches and feet, how tall was he actually in (a) English units, and (b) metric units?

Dominador Tan
Dominador Tan
Numerade Educator