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The earth's distance from the sun is often given as an average. Why isn't an exact measurement available for this distance?

Answer 1

Elena Antonova

As the path is elliptical the distance varies with time.
Maximum 152.10Million kilometer to 147.10 million kilometers.

However, astronomers are able to calculate distance for a specific date and time.

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Answer 2

Owen Atkinson

Because of its elliptical orbit, Earth's distance from the sun varies. For calculational ease, an average distance of about 93 million miles is commonly used.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.