Question

Use the mouse to drag the unit boxes into the correct order from LARGEST (on the left) to smallest (on the right).



Drag and drop your selection from the following list to complete the answer:

1 AU, 1 ly, 1 pc, 1 km, 1 m

Answer 1

Answer: $1 pc > 1 ly > 1 AU > 1 km > 1 m$

Explanation:

Firstly, we need to work with the same units in order to compare among the given distances. So, let's work with kilometers ($km$) with the following information:

$1pc=206265AU$

$1AU=1.5(10)^{8} km$

$1 ly=63000 AU$

$1 km=1000 m$

For the Astronomical Unit (AU):

$1AU=1.5(10)^{8} km$

For Light years (ly):

$1 ly=63000 AU \frac{1.5(10)^{8} km}{1 AU}=9.45(10)^{12} km$

For Parsecs (Pc):

$1pc=206265AU \frac{1.5(10)^{8} km}{1 AU}=3.09(10)^{13} km$

For Kilometers (Km):

$1 km$

For Meters (m):

$1 m \frac{1 km}{1000 m}=0.001 km$

Now that we have all the distances in kilometers we can compare and arrange them in order from largest to smallest:

$1 pc=3.09(10)^{13} km$

$1 ly=9.45(10)^{12} km$

$1AU=1.5(10)^{8} km$

$1 km$

$1 m=0.001 km$

Therefore:

$1 pc > 1 ly > 1 AU > 1 km > 1 m$