If a galaxy were shrunk down to the size of a paper plate, then the next nearest galaxy would be… A. less than 1 ft away B. less than 100 ft away C. more than 100 miles away D. less than 1 mile away
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
ChatGPT said:
The correct answer is C. more than 100 miles away.
Here’s the reasoning:
When we consider the vast distances between galaxies, the scale is mind-boggling. Let’s break this down:
- Typical Galaxy Size: A galaxy like the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. Light travels at a speed of about 186,282 miles per second, so in one year, it covers about 5.88 trillion miles.
- Shrinking the Galaxy: If we shrink a galaxy the size of the Milky Way (100,000 light-years across) down to the size of a paper plate (roughly 10 inches in diameter), we need to scale down the distances to match.
- The Milky Way is 100,000 light-years across.
- A paper plate is 10 inches across.
- Scaling factor = 100,000 light-years / 10 inches = 10,000 light-years per inch.
- Distance to the Nearest Galaxy (Andromeda): The Andromeda galaxy is about 2.537 million light-years away from the Milky Way.
- Scaled Distance: Now, if we shrink this distance with the same scaling factor of 10,000 light-years per inch:
- 2.537 million light-years / 10,000 light-years per inch = 253.7 inches.
- 253.7 inches is about 21 feet.
So, if the Milky Way were the size of a paper plate, the Andromeda galaxy (the nearest large galaxy) would be about 21 feet away in this scaled-down model. This is well beyond 1 foot but still less than 100 feet.
However, considering how vast the universe is, even on this scale, galaxies are incredibly far apart. This puts the answer well beyond 1 foot but less than 100 feet, which makes C the best fit.
In reality, galaxies are separated by millions of light-years, and the space between them is so large that the distances we normally encounter on Earth seem negligible by comparison.
