In space, our real moon has a diameter of 3,476 km and is on average 384,400 km from Earth. The sun is about 149,600,000 km from the Earth. Given that the Moon and Sun appear to be the same size to an observer on Earth, how many times farther is the sun than the moon?

Given such vast numbers, what would be a better way to express these distances?

1. 389.2 times farther

2. Scientific Notation

Step-by-step explanation:

Given that

Distance from moon to earth = 384,400 km

Distance from sun to earth = 149,600,000 km

Therefore, distance from sun to moon

= Distance from sun to earth less distance from moon to earth

So,

Distance from sun to moon = 149,600,000 km - 384,400 km

= 149,215,600 km

Number of times the earth is farther from the sun = 149, 600, 000 : 384, 400

= 389.1779

= 389.2 times farther

Again, from the data, the diameter of the sun can be estimated by

= 3476 * 389.2

= 1.35 million km

NOTE: All these are estimated answers from the data provided in the question.

Scientific Notation is a way used in expressing numbers that are too big or too small to be conveniently written in decimal forms. It's also called Standard form in some areas of the word.