Solar System Scale Quick Check
4 of 54 of 5 Items
Question
The table shows the diameters of paper circles used to represent the planets.
Scale Sizes of the Planets
Planet Diameter (km) Diameter (cm)
Mercury 4,800 0.48
Venus 12,100 1.21
Earth 12,800 1.28
Mars 6,700 0.67
Jupiter 143,000 14.3
Saturn 120,000 12.0
Uranus 51,100 5.11
Neptune 50,000 5.0
What is the scale used in the table?
(1 point)
Responses
1 km = 10,000 cm
1 km = 10,000 cm
1 cm = 1,000 km
1 cm = 1,000 km
1 km = 1,000 cm
1 km = 1,000 cm
1 cm = 10,000 km
1 cm = 10,000 km
Skip to navigation
The scale used in the table is 1 cm = 10,000 km.
To determine the scale used in the table, we need to compare the given diameters of the planets in kilometers with the corresponding diameters in centimeters.
Let's take the example of Earth:
Earth's diameter is given as 12,800 km and 1.28 cm in the table.
To find the scale, we can set up a proportion:
1 km corresponds to X cm.
Using the diameter of Earth:
12,800 km corresponds to 1.28 cm.
So, to find X (the scale), we can cross multiply:
12,800 km * X cm = 1.28 cm
Now we can solve for X by dividing both sides of the equation by 12,800 km:
X cm = 1.28 cm / 12,800 km
Simplifying the right side:
X cm = 0.0001 km
Therefore, the scale used in the table is:
1 km = 0.0001 cm
Since it is asked in terms of km and cm, the correct statement is:
1 km = 10,000 cm.