standard_description: Explain why the sum or product of two rational numbers is rational; that the sum of a rational number and an irrational number is irrational; and that the product of a nonzero rational number and an irrational number is irrational.
problem_activity: Task
A penny is about $\frac{1}{16}$ of an inch thick.
In 2011 there were approximately 5 billion pennies minted. If all of these pennies were placed in a single stack, how many miles high would that stack be?
In the past 100 years, nearly 500 billion pennies have been minted. If all of these pennies were placed in a single stack, how many miles high would that stack be?
The distance from the moon to the earth is about 239,000 miles. How many pennies would need to be in a stack in order to reach the moon?


aligns: no