Kami Export - Lab 1 – 2024 – Solar System Scaling
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School
Solano Community College *
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Course
MISC
Subject
Astronomy
Date
Feb 20, 2024
Type
Pages
7
Uploaded by ChiefSteel6471
Astronomy 020 —Lab 1 Scaling of the Solar System Purpose 1.
To create a scaled model of the solar system with objects from around your house. 2.
To get some experience with scientific notation and large values common in astronomy. 3.
To get some experience converting between metric unit order-of-magnitude prefixes. Equipment •
Calculator •
Computer •
Measuring tape or ruler and lengths of string Summary of the Lab In this lab you will set a scale for the solar system starting with a scaled size of the Sun. This will allow you to see first-
hand how much smaller the planets are from the sun and how most of the mass of the solar system is inside the Sun. You then will use Goggle Maps or a similar mapping service and find out how big your scaled solar system would be if you set the Sun down in the middle of Solano Community College. This size of the solar system represents the orbits of the planets. Experimental Procedure (see the accompanying directs video linked on Canvas for more details and guidance) 1.
Before you proceed, complete the Pre-Lab (Questions 1 through 4). These questions should prepare you for the calculations you need to do for the rest of the lab. 2.
Chose a room in your home and measure the diagonal length of the room and set that length as the diameter of your scale model of the Sun — imagine that a large spherical model of the Sun is occupying the entire room that you have chosen
. This single measurement determines every other aspect of your model, since all the planets have sizes and distances relative to your room size Sun. 3.
Answer the analysis questions starting on page 4. These questions relate to your particular model that will have included making measurements by hand. Later questions focus on further calculations related to your model and a way to visualize the model with online satellite maps. Pre–lab Questions 1.
Round the following numbers to three significant digits and convert them to scientific notation: a.
160 = b.
1009 = c.
1,100,912 = d.
1,040,306,000,716,000 = e.
0.017309 = f.
0.00010145 = g.
123,699 = h.
0.0000000045682 =
Solano College Page 2 Astronomy 2.
One mile is equal to 1.609 kilometers (
km
) and the average Earth-Sun distance is 93,000,000 miles Note that this distance (in any units) is defined to be one Astronomical Unit (1 A.U.). Note that ࠵? ࠵?࠵? = ࠵?࠵?࠵?࠵? ࠵?
and ࠵? ࠵? = ࠵?࠵?࠵? ࠵?࠵?
.
a.
What is the distance to the Sun in km
? Round off your answer to two significant digits. Show your work. b.
How many centimeters (
cm)
are in one A.U.? Round off your answer to two significant digits. Show your work. c.
Imagine that you have just discovered Planet X, orbiting the Sun at a distance of 8,500,000,000 kilometers — eight and a half billion kilometers
. How many A.U.'s from the Sun is Planet X? Round off your answer to two significant digits. Show your work. 3.
One light-year is equal to the distance that light travels in one year. Since light travels at a speed of 300,000 km/s, this is no small distance! Considering that there are 60 seconds per minute, 60 minutes per hour, 24 hours in a day, and 365.25 days in a year, what is the distance to the star known as Barnard’s Star, located 5.96 light-years distant? Round off your answer to three significant digits. Show your work
Solano College Page 3 Astronomy 4.
Complete Table 1 below. Each object in the table is listed together with its actual diameter and actual distance from the Sun. Obtain the Relative Diameter by dividing the diameter, D
, of the object by the diameter of the Earth. Similarly, calculate the Relative Distance in A.U.'s by dividing the Distance from the Sun for the object by the Earth's distance from the Sun. Note that 1 A.U. is the average Earth-Sun distance. Table 1: Scale Model of Solar System Actual Diameter of Sun, Planet or Dwarf Planet (km) Actual Distance from the Sun (
10
!
km
) Relative Diameter ,
D
D
"#$%&
.
Relative Distance in A.U. Sun 1 392 000
0
Mercury 4 878
57.9
Venus 12 102
108
Earth 12 756
149
Mars 6 794
228
Jupiter 142 984
778
Saturn 120 536
1 427
Uranus 51 118
2 870
Neptune 49 528
4 497
Pluto 2 246
5 914
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Solano College Page 4 Astronomy Lab Analysis Questions
1.
Based on the measured diagonal length of your chosen room, what is the Scale Factor (SF) of your model solar system? ࠵?࠵? =
࠵?࠵?࠵?࠵?࠵? ࠵?࠵?࠵?࠵?
࠵?࠵?࠵?࠵?࠵?࠵? ࠵?࠵?࠵?࠵?
Show your work below. Note that scale factors don’t have units since they are a ratio of two values where the units cancel between the numerator and denominator. Figure A: Composite image of the solar system showing the Sun and planets and Pluto with their relative sizes to scale. Note that the distances between planets is not to scale.
This is the type of diagonal room measuement that you should make. The measuement you make represents the diameter of the Sun.
Solano College Page 5 Astronomy 2.
Complete Table 2 below. You should be able to find objects in your home that are the right lengths for your model planets and dwarf planet. The objects need not be spheres, just anything that is as long on one side as the diameter of the planet that you are modeling. This part of the lab requires measurements of common objects you have on hand. Table 2: Scale Model of Solar System Actual Diameter of Sun, Planet or Dwarf Planet (km) Actual Distance from the Sun (
10
!
km
) Scaled Diameter of Sun, Planet or Dwarf Planet (cm) Scaled Distance from the Sun (m) Measured
Diameter of Selected or Found Object (cm) Comments: what objects did you use and how well did they match the Scaled Diameters Sun 1 392 000
0
Mercury 4 878
57.9
Venus 12 102
108
Earth 12 756
149
Mars 6 794
228
Jupiter 142 984
778
Saturn 120 536
1 427
Uranus 51 118
2 870
Neptune 49 528
4 497
Pluto 2 246
5 914
Solano College Page 6 Astronomy 3.
Using the scaled orbital distance of each planet in Table 2 above, show how large each planet’s orbit would be on an overlay to a satellite image centered on Solano Community College at 38.3940° N, 121.9415° W. Google Maps works very well for answering this question. Attach the image in the space provided below.
4.
Based on the scale of your model, how fast would you need to walk in order to be walking at the scaled speed of light? Remember that actual the speed of light is 300,000 km/s. Show Round off your answer to two significant digits. Report your answer in either meters per second (m/s) or centimeters per second (cm/s). Show your work
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Solano College Page 7 Astronomy 5.
Based on the scale of your model, calculate how far the scaled distance to the nearest star (Alpha Centauri at 4.30 light-years). If your model was to represent our solar system and
this nearest star, would your model fit on Earth? Make sure to consider the circumference of Earth in order to determine if the model could fit on Earth. Show your work. 6.
Based on the scale of your model, determine the scaled size of a flea. Assume the flea has a size of 2.0 mm. Is this scaled flea larger or smaller than an actual hydrogen atom? The radius of a hydrogen atom is approximately 1.0 Å
. Note that one Angstrom (
1.0 Å
) is equal to 10
’()
m
and one millimeter (
1.0 mm
) is equal to 10
’*
m
. Show your work.