SOLUTION: The orbit of the earth around the sun is elliptical in shape with the sun at one focus and semimajor axis of length 185.8 million miles. If the distance of the sun from the center

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Question 1184862: The orbit of the earth around the sun is elliptical in shape with the sun at one
focus and semimajor axis of length 185.8 million miles. If the distance of the sun from the center of the orbit is 1.58 million miles, find
a. the greatest distance from the sun to Earth, and
b. the least distance from the sun to Earth.

Found 2 solutions by greenestamps, ikleyn:
Answer by greenestamps(13195) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!


At first reading, it might appear that some calculations with ugly numbers are going to be needed. But that is not the case.

The maximum distance from the sun to Earth is the length of the semimajor axis plus the distance between the sun and the center of the orbit; the minimum distance from the sun to Earth is the length of the semimajor axis minus the distance between the sun and the center of the orbit.

ANSWERS:
a. 185.8+1.58=187.38 million miles
b. 185.8-1.58=184.22 million miles


Answer by ikleyn(52750) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
.
The orbit of the earth around the sun is elliptical in shape with the sun at one
focus and semimajor axis of length 185.8 million miles. If the distance of the sun from the center of the orbit is 1.58 million miles, find
a. the greatest distance from the sun to Earth, and
b. the least distance from the sun to Earth.
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The  Earth orbit semimajor axis length  IS  NOT  185.8  millions miles.


It is a  RUDE  MISTAKE  to state it . . .


A person, who brings such problem to this forum,  MUST  KNOW  it - - - in order for don't look illiterate . . .


The  Earth orbit semimajor axis length is  HALF  of this value.


See this Wikipedia article
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_orbit



I just answered this post once at the link

https://www.algebra.com/algebra/homework/Quadratic-relations-and-conic-sections/Quadratic-relations-and-conic-sections.faq.question.1184729.html


Read my posts attentively and learn as much as you can from them . . .