Question

Venus is 31.2 million mi farther from the sun than Mercury, while Earth is 57 million mi farther from the sun than Mercury. If the total of the distances from these three planets to the sun is 196.2 million mi, how far away from the sun is Mercury?

Answer 1

The distance of mercury from sun is 36 Million miles.

Step-by-step explanation:

The situation is graphically represented in the attached figure:

1) Now the distance of mercury from sun = 'x' Million Miles

2) the distance of Venus from sun = '31.2+x' Million Miles

3) the distance of Earth from sun = '57+x' Million Miles

Since it is given that the sum of all the three distances is 196.2 million miles thus we have

`x+31.2+x+57+x=196.2\\\\3x+88.2=196.2\\\\\therefore x=(196.2-88.2)/(3)=36`

thus the distance of mercury from sun is 36 million miles