Richard Beason, age 13, of Los Angeles, Calif., for his question:

How large is the moon?

The area of the moon is about equal to the land area of the Americas. Its diameter is 2,160 miles, a little over one fourth the diameter of the earth. But it would take about 50 moons to fill a ball the size of the earth, all jammed together in a solid mass.

On the scales, the moon could not compete with our weighty old world. The moon weighs a mere 81 quintrillion tons. In figures, this is 81 followed by 18 zeros. It would take 81 and a half moons to equal the weight of the earth.

From the earth, the moon looks flat as a penny. It is, of course, as round as an orange. It is a solid globe made of rocks and cinders. The material is about as heavy as the rocks which form the earth's crust.

 For more information about the moon go to: http://www.MoonPhases.info/#Moon_Information