Are we there yet? (Math Skills).The solar system solar system, the sun and the surrounding planets, natural satellites, dwarf planets, asteroids, meteoroids, and comets that are bound by its gravity. The sun is by far the most massive part of the solar system, containing almost 99.9% of the system's total mass. is one big space. It took Voyager Voyager, airplane Voyager, the first airplane to circumnavigate the earth nonstop on a single load of fuel. Designed by Burt Rutan and flown by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, Voyager took off from California on Dec. 2 twelve years to travel from Earth to Neptune, the eighth-farthest planet from the Sun. How far away is that? To visualize the size of the Solar system, why not make a scale? 1. To make the millions of kilometers between the planets easier to visualize, scientists use a scale called astronomical unit astronomical unit (AU), mean distance between the earth and sun; one AU is c.92,960,000 mi (149,604,970 km). The astronomical unit is the principal unit of measurement within the solar system, e.g., Mercury is just over 1-3 AU and Pluto is about 39 AU from the sun. (AU), where 1 AU equals the distance from Earth and Sun (about 149,600,000 kilometers). Use this information to calculate the approximate AU of each planet from the Sun. 2. Still have a hard time envisioning distances in the solar system.; Make a scale using something you're familiar with: gummy bears For the show based on the candy, see . A Gummy bear is a small, rubbery-textured confectionery, roughly 1 centimeter long, shaped in the form of a bear. History . Each bear's height represents 10,000 km (approximately one roundtrip round·trip or round-trip also round trip n. A trip from one place to another and back, usually over the same route. between Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine, with a 2004 population of 63,882. Portland is Maine's cultural, social and economic capital. Tourists are drawn to Portland's historic Old Port district along Portland Harbor, which is at the mouth of the Fore River and part , and Seattle, Washington  This page is protected from moves until disputes have been resolved on the .The reason for its protection is listed on the protection policy page. ). To create a gummy-bear scale, divide each planet's actual distance from the Sun by 10,000 km. Using the same method, calculate the diameter of each planet.
Body Actual average Approximate Gummy-bear
distance from Sun AU scale diameter
Sun --
Mercury 57,900,000 km
Venus 108,200,000 km
Earth 149,600,000 km
Mars 228,000,000 km
Jupiter 778,400,000 km
Saturn 1,427,000,000 km
Uranus 2,869,000,000 km
Neptune 4,496,600,000 km
Pluto 5,965,200,000 km
Body Actual Gummy-bear
diameter scale diameter
Sun 1,392,000 km
Mercury 4,878 km
Venus 12,104 km
Earth 12,756 km
Mars 6,794 km
Jupiter 142,800 km
Saturn 120,600 km
Uranus 51,300 km
Neptune 49,100 km
Pluto 2,302 km
Don't Stop Now! 1. Use your gummy-bear scale to calculate the following: The International Space Station orbits about 250 km above Earth. How many gummy bears would that be? From the ISS ISS See Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). to the Sun? 2. Say the planets are all aligned. You decide to make a drive through of the solar system. If you follow a speed limit of 100 kin/hr (60 mi/hr), how long will it take to reach each planet? ARE WE THERE YET?, p. TE 5 Body AU Scale Distance Scale Diameter Sun 139.20 Mercury 0.39 5,790 0.48 Venus 0.72 10,820 1.21 Earth 1.00 14,960 1.28 Mars 1.52 22,800 0.68 Jupiter 5.20 77,840 14.28 Saturn 9.54 142,700 12.06 Uranus 19.18 286,960 5.13 Neptune 30.06 449,660 4.91 Pluto 39.87 596,520 0.23 1. The ISS is 0.025 gummy bears from Earth. It's 14,960 gummy bears from the Sun. 2. To find the hours, divide each planet's distance from the Sun (in km) by 100 kin/hr. Divide by 24 to calculate the number of days. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion