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.

$1\ AU=1.496\times 10^8\ Km$

So, $1\ Km=\dfrac{1}{1.496\times 10^8}\ AU$

46 million kilometers means, $46\times 10^6\ Km$

$46\times 10^6\ Km=\dfrac{46\times 10^6}{1.496\times 10^8}$

$46\ million\ Km=0.3074\ AU$

Hence, this is the required solution.