Suppose a student develops a scale model of the planets. Which two planets should be the closest in diameter on the model
To determine which two planets should be the closest in diameter on a scale model, you need to consider the actual diameters of the planets and choose the two that have the smallest difference in size.
Let's use the actual diameters of the planets in our Solar System as a reference:
1. Mercury: 4,879 kilometers
2. Venus: 12,104 kilometers
3. Earth: 12,742 kilometers
4. Mars: 6,779 kilometers
5. Jupiter: 139,820 kilometers
6. Saturn: 116,460 kilometers
7. Uranus: 50,724 kilometers
8. Neptune: 49,244 kilometers
Now, suppose you decide to create a scale model where 1 centimeter on the model represents 1,000 kilometers in real life. In this case, you would need to divide the real-life diameters of the planets by 1,000 to get their respective diameters on the model.
After making these calculations, the two planets that should be closest in diameter on the model are Earth and Venus.
On the model, Earth's diameter would be approximately 12.742 centimeters, while Venus' diameter would be approximately 12.104 centimeters. The difference between the diameters of these two planets is only about 0.638 centimeters, making them the closest in size on the scale model.
If a student develops a scale model of the planets, the two planets that should be the closest in diameter on the model are Mercury and Mars.
Mercury has a diameter of about 4,879 kilometers, while Mars has a diameter of about 6,779 kilometers. Therefore, in order to create a scale model where the planets are represented accurately in terms of their relative sizes, Mercury and Mars would be the closest in diameter.