1. If the Sun were the size of a beach ball, Earth would be the size of a green pea 110 m away. Show that the nearest star, Alpha Centauri (4.4 light-years away), would be about 30,000 km distant....

1. If the Sun were the size of a beach ball, Earth would be the size of a green pea 110 m away. Show that the nearest star, Alpha Centauri (4.4 light-years away), would be about 30,000 km distant. (Hint: Find the distance to Alpha Centauri in units of AU.)

2. Knowing that the speed of light is 300,000 km>s, show that it takes about 8 min for sunlight to reach Earth.