I need help badly with this assignment. If Venus is 33.3 million miles farther from the sun than Mercury, then Earth is 25.6 million miles farther from the sum than venus. When the total of the ditances for these three planets from the sum is 191.2 million miles, how far away from the sun is Mercury
Let the sun distances be M, V and E, in millions of miles
V - M = 33.3
E - V = 25.6
M + V + E = 191.2
The last two equations, when subtracted, tell you that
M + 2V = 165.6
Adding that to the first equation tells you that
3V = 198.9, so V = 66.3
Since V - M = 33.3, M = 33.0 (million miles)
Thank you Drwls
To find the distance from the sun to Mercury, we can use the information given and solve step by step.
Let's denote the distance from the sun to Mercury as "x."
According to the problem, Venus is 33.3 million miles farther from the sun than Mercury. So, the distance from the sun to Venus would be "x + 33.3 million miles."
Next, it is given that Earth is 25.6 million miles farther from the sun than Venus. Therefore, the distance from the sun to Earth would be "(x + 33.3 million miles) + 25.6 million miles."
Finally, we are told that the total of the distances for these three planets from the sun is 191.2 million miles. So, we can set up the equation:
x + (x + 33.3 million miles) + 25.6 million miles = 191.2 million miles
Now, we can solve this equation to find the value of x, which represents the distance from the sun to Mercury.
Combining like terms:
2x + 58.9 million miles = 191.2 million miles
Subtracting 58.9 million miles from both sides:
2x = 132.3 million miles
Dividing both sides by 2:
x = 66.15 million miles
Therefore, Mercury is approximately 66.15 million miles away from the sun.