Imagine that you are building a scale model of the Earth and the Moon. You are going to use a 12-inch basketball to represent the Earth and a 3-inch tennis ball to represent the Moon. To maintain the proper distance scale, about how far from the surface of the basketball should the tennis ball be placed?

Question

Moshe Bradford

Physics

2 October, 13:38

Imagine that you are building a scale model of the Earth and the Moon. You are going to use a 12-inch basketball to represent the Earth and a 3-inch tennis ball to represent the Moon. To maintain the proper distance scale, about how far from the surface of the basketball should the tennis ball be placed?

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Answers (1)

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Alexia Carpenter · Answer 1

About 332.375 to 362.35 inches

Explanation:

Diameter of earth: approx. 12750km

Diameter of moon: approx. 3476km

Earth scale: 12750/12 = 1062.5

Moon scale: 3475/3 = 1158.33

Therefore, the proportional value that is used is in between 1062.5 - 1158.33

Distance from moon to earth: approx. 385000

Lower boundary: 385000/1158.33 = 332.375

Upper boundary: 385000/1062.5 = 362.35

To maintain the proper distance scale, the distance should be between 332.375 to 362.35

Take the nearest inch, the most appropriate distance is 3 inches