asked 198k views
3 votes
The total mass of our galaxy is 200 billion solar masses (Msun). What percent of our galaxy's total mass does the central black hole contain? A) 5% B) 10% C) 25% D) 50%

1 Answer

5 votes

Answer: The mass of the central black hole in our Milky Way galaxy is estimated to be about 4 million times the mass of the Sun (4 x 10^6 Msun). To calculate the percentage of our galaxy's total mass that the central black hole contains, you can use the following formula:

Percentage = (Black Hole Mass / Total Galaxy Mass) * 100

Percentage = (4 x 10^6 Msun / 200 billion Msun) * 100

Percentage ≈ (0.00002) * 100 ≈ 0.002%

So, the central black hole in our Milky Way galaxy contains approximately 0.002% of the galaxy's total mass. None of the given answer choices (A, B, C, D) are close to this percentage, but if we round it to the nearest option, it would be 0%, which is not exactly correct but the closest option.

answered
User DDW
by
8.5k points