Solar System Walk Lab PDF

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Solar System Lab...

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Solar&System&Walk&–&Report&[Total&points&100]& !

Your%Name:%Javeria%Ijaz% ! 1. [5&pts]!My!scale!model!begins!at![THE&FRONT&OF&MY&DRIVEWAY]!and!ends!at![MY& BACKYARD]!and!is![450]!meters!long.!!I!chose!this!site!because![I&CHOSE&THIS& LOCATION&BECAUSE&IT’S&A&RELATIVELY&STRAIGHT&PATH&AND&IS&SOMETHING&I& AM&VERY&FAMILIAR&WITH.&I&WANTED&TO&PLACE&THE&MODEL&SOMEWHERE&THAT&I& COULD&REALLY&GRASP&ITS&SCALE&AND&SINCE&I&WALK&THIS&PATH&EVERYDAY&I& FEEL&LIKE&IT&WILL&HELP&ME&APPRECIATE&THE&LAB&THAT&MUCH&MORE.]& ! 2. [5&pts]!Do!you!expect!to!get!a!very!large!number!or!a!very!small!one!for!your!scaling! factor?!! ! a. I!expect!a!smaller!number!because!a!scaling!factor!has!to!bring!astronomical! proportions!into!something!easier!to!comprehend/work!with.!!! ! 3. [5&pts]!Which!measurement!in!meters,!would!you!expect!to!be!larger!for!Jupiter,!its! diameter!or!its!distance!from!the!Sun?! a. I!would!expect!the!distance!between!Jupiter!and!the!Sun!to!be!larger--! despite!Jupiter!being!the!largest!planet!in!the!solar!system—due!to!the!fact! that!it!is!the!fifth!planet!out!from!the!sun!and!that!is!a!great!distance!away.!! ! 4. [5&pts]!What!is!the!distance!between!Sun!and!Earth!for!your!scale!model?! 𝟒𝟓𝟎$𝐦

a. Scaling&factor=&(𝟒.𝟒𝟗𝟖$𝐱$𝟏𝟎𝟗 )=1.000444642&x&𝟏𝟎-𝟕 & !

i. 1.000444642!x!10-1 (!1.496!x!102 )=14.96!m! ! ! 5. [5&pts]!What!is!the!diameter!of!Earth!in!your!scale!model?!!

a. Scaling&Factor=1.000444642&x&𝟏𝟎-𝟓 &à &(converted&from&m&to& cm)& i. 1.000444642!x!10-3 (12,756)=!0.1276! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

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6. [5&pts]!Describe!how!the!process!of!determining!the!scale!factor!and!applying!it!to! distances!and!diameters!went!for!you.!!In!particular!report!any!difficulties!you!had!and! how!you!resolved!them.!!Reporting!mistakes!and!how!you!corrected!them!is!strongly! encouraged!in!this!class.! Overall,!I!found!the!concept!of!scaling!factor!easy!to!follow!and!determining! the!scaling!factor--in!terms!of!distance!was!pretty!easy!to!do.!Applying!this!to! each!planet!to!find!their!scaled!distance!from!the!sun!was!also!simple.!Getting! the!scaled!diameter!though,!was!a!whole!different!story.!At!first!I!found!that!I! was!unable!to!use!this!scaling!factor!to!find!diameters!that!fit!my!model.!In! order!to!ameliorate!this!issue,!I!had!to!come!up!with!a!different!scaling!factor! and!apply!that!to!locate!objects!that!would!better!fit!my!model.!To!do!this,!I! followed!the!same!method!of!a!scaling!factor!but!instead!of!using!the!model! distance!from!the!Sun!to!Neptune,!I!used!the!model!diameter!of!the!Sun!(the! diameter!of!a!cymbal!in!cm)!to!the!actual!diameter!of!the!Sun.!Using!this! scaling!factor,!I!was!better!able!to!find!objects!that!would!reasonably!fit!the! model.!Although,!after!checking!this!method!with!Professor!Belle,!I!realized! that!this!would!make!my!model!incorrect.!My!issue!with!using!my!original! scaling!factor!was!I!was!either!getting!numbers!way!too!small!for!the!model! or!way!too!big.!I!ended!up!realizing!that!I!did!not!convert!the!units!correctly! to!fit!the!model!in!centimeters.!After!doing!the!correct!conversion,!I!found! the!diameters!to!actually!work!with!the!parameters!of!the!model.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

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7. [20&pts]!Fill!out!the!provided!table:! ! Scaling&factor&[5&pts]:& !

Object

Actual Diameter in kilometers (km) – get value from spreadsheet

Sun

1,391,400! (million)! km!

Actual Distance from the Sun in kilometers (km) – get value from spreadsheet

X!

Scaled diameter

13.92! cm!

Scaled distance from Sun

X!

Scaled distance from preceding object

Position of object in model (give a landmark or show where you placed the marker). Insert a picture taken with your phone camera.

X!

!

Mercury

4,880!km!

57,900,000! (million)!km!

.04882! cm!

5.80!m!

5.90!m!

!

Venus

12,104! km!

108,200,000! (million)!km!

.1211! cm!

10.82! m!

5.14!m!

!

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Object

Actual Diameter in kilometers (km) – get value from spreadsheet

Actual Distance from the Sun in kilometers (km) – get value from spreadsheet

Earth

12,756! km!

149,600,000! (million)!km!

Scaled diameter

Scaled distance from Sun

Scaled distance from preceding object

.1276! cm!

14.96!! m!

4.21!m!

Position of object in model (give a landmark or show where you placed the marker). Insert a picture taken with your phone camera.

!

Moon

3,474!km!

150,000,000! (million)!km!

.0347! cm!

15!m!

.05!m!

!

Mars

6,794!km!

227,900,000! (million)!km!

.0678! cm!

22.78! m!

7.85!m!

!

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Object

Actual Diameter in kilometers (km) – get value from spreadsheet

Actual Distance from the Sun in kilometers (km) – get value from spreadsheet

Jupiter

142,984! km!

777,800,000! (million)!km!

Scaled diameter

Scaled distance from Sun

Scaled distance from preceding object

1.430! cm!

77.86! m!

56.19!m!

Position of object in model (give a landmark or show where you placed the marker). Insert a picture taken with your phone camera.

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Saturn

120,536! km!

1,429,000,000! 1.206! (billion)!km! cm!!

142.96! m!

66.41!m!

!

Uranus

51,118! km!

2,871,000,000! 0.5114! (billion)!km! cm!

287.23! m!

147.09! m!

!

!

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Object

Actual Diameter in kilometers (km) – get value from spreadsheet

Actual Distance from the Sun in kilometers (km) – get value from spreadsheet

Neptune

49,528! km!

4,498,000,000! 1.08! (billion)!km! cm!!

Scaled diameter

Scaled distance from Sun

Scaled distance from preceding object

450!m!

157.16m!

Position of object in model (give a landmark or show where you placed the marker). Insert a picture taken with your phone camera.

!

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8. [10&pts]!If!you!had!to!come!up!with!measurements!of!the!distance!of!each!planet!from! the!Sun,!how!would!you!go!about!it?!!List!steps!in!the!process.!How!do!astronomers!do! it?! a. In!order!to!come!up!with!measurements!of!distance!from!each!planet!to!the! Sun,!I!would!use!the!parallax!method.!The!parallax!method!measures! distance!based!on!the!idea!that!a!triangle!is!completely!known!with!only! three!elements.!Given!the!knowledge!that!all!the!distances!between!the! planets!are!related,!it!is!only!necessary!to!find!the!distance!of!one!planet!in! order!to!find!them!all.!! i. Parallax is a shift, kind of like when you stick your thumb out and when you look at your thumb from each eye, your thumb appears to “move”. When we measure the parallax of an object, and know the separation between the two positions from which it is observed, we can get the distance to the object. 1. Using an angle measuring tool, like Theodolite, we can determine each planets distance from the sun. ii. First, you to need apply the method of parallax to measure the distance from our eyes to the thumb held out. Look at it through one eye and use a mark on the wall to remember the placement. Then switch your eye, and remember the mark on the wall you know see your thumb at. iii. Look at the marks without looking at your thumb, and measure the angle of the intersection with an angle-measuring tool. iv. Using this scale, you can determine the measure of each planet to the sun! b. Astronomers can determine these distances a lot efficiently now due to advancements in technology. It is now possible to transmit a radar signal from one planet to another and measure how long it takes for the radar echo to return. Astronomers are actually measuring the distance from the Earth to some other body/planet, because interplanetary distances are all related. From this they determine a Earth-Sun distance, or whichever planet-Sun distance. !

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Conclusion&[20&pts]:&&& ! • • • •

What!does!this!exercise!teach!you!about!the!sizes!and!distances!of!planets?!! What!was!the!most!surprising!thing!you!noticed!as!you!set!up!the!model?!! If!you!were!creating!a!permanent!feature!on!campus!what!would!you!do!differently?!! Do!you!think!that!a!permanent!feature!is!a!good!idea?!Why!or!why!not?! o This!exercise!has!taught!me!that!although!the!sizes!and!distances!of!the! planets!in!our!solar!system!are!astronomical,!it!is!possible!to!envision!and! comprehend!these!measurements!through!a!model.!By!setting!up!the!model! and!doing!all!the!necessary!measurements,!I!am!able!to!get!a!better!sense!the! numbers!my!eyes!would!normally!gloss!over.!In!doing!this!lab!I!not!only! learned!how!to!conceptualize!large!numbers!but!was!surprised!to!see!just! how!much!space!these!planets!take!up.!As!I!went!along!placing!the!stakes,!the! farther!away!the!planet!was!the!space!between!each!also!increased! dramatically.!For!some!reason!I!expected!the!space!between!each!planet!to! vary!only!slightly!but!they!are!very!spaced!out!from!each!other.!The!only! exception!to!this!was!the!Earth!and!the!Moon!which!I!expected.!Now,!if!I!had! to!create!a!permanent!feature!of!this!model,!I!would!actually!place!the! planets!in!orbit!to!the!sun!rather!than!just!in!a!line.!Although!this!would! require!more!work!to!determine!each!planet’s!orbit,!I!feel!like!it!would! display!both!the!heliocentric!theory!and!the!distance/diameters!of!the! planets!in!an!aesthetically!pleasing!manner.!Not!only!this!but!I!would! probably!pick!a!larger!and!more!isolated!place!to!fit!this!display,!particularly! not!in!my!driveway!where!people!might!bump!their!cars!into!it!!Personally,!I! do!not!believe!a!permanent!model!is!a!good!idea!mostly!because!our! knowledge!of!the!solar!system!is!ever-changing.!For!example,!if!we!were!to! do!this!lab!just!a!few!years!ago!then!Pluto!would!have!been!one!of!the!planets! we!measure!and!scale.!However,!it!was!classified!as!a!dwarf!planet!and!is!no! longer!a!planet!of!our!solar!system!today.!Creating!a!permanent!model! requires!us!to!know!all!the!facts,!but!the!truth!is!we!are!constantly! uncovering!new!information.!As!a!result,!I!feel!a!permanent!model!is!not!a! good!idea!until!we!have!the!whole!picture.!! !

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