Question

At its closest point, Mercury is approximately 46 million kilometers from the sun. What is this distance in AU?

Answer 1

1 astronomical unit 1 AU = 1.4960 * 10^11 meters
it is the average distance between earth and sun
mercury to sun distance is = 46,000,000 * 1000 meters
= 4.6 * 10^9 meters = 4.6 * 10^9 / 1.4960 * 10^11 AU
= 3.0.74 / 100 = 0.0374 AU

Answer 2

Explanation :

Astronomical unit is the unit to find the average distance between the earth and the sun.

`1\ AU=1.496* 10^8\ Km`

So,
`1\ Km=(1)/(1.496* 10^8)\ AU`

46 million kilometers means,
`46* 10^6\ Km`

`46* 10^6\ Km=(46* 10^6)/(1.496* 10^8)`

`46\ million\ Km=0.3074\ AU`

Hence, this is the required solution.