Planets Lab Report: Scale Models of Earth and Solar System

Geology Name: ________________________ The Planets Lab Report Complete your responses in a color other than black or red . Part 1: Scale model of Earth layers 1. Tape three sheets of paper together end to end to make a long sheet. Fold it in half the long way to find the center line. 2. Near one end of the center line, make a dot in pencil. This represents the center of the Earth, so label it "Center." Then, using a protractor, draw a line in pencil at 7.5 degrees on each side of the center line so that you have a 15-degree wedge. Using a meter stick or straight edge, extend each of these lines all the way to the edge of the paper. 3. The radius of the Earth is 6371 km. On your model, how big is this? 6371 km * 100,000 cm/km = 63.71 cm 10,000,000 4. Mark another dot at that distance along your two lines from the center. These two points are on the surface of the Earth. 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each of the boundaries between Earth's layers: convert the real depth of each boundary in km to the scaled model distance in cm (fill in the appropriate table below ), write the depth on the outside of the line, next to the mark. Boundary Depth below Earth's surface (km) Depth (scaled, cm) Inner core/outer core 5155 55.15 Outer core/lower mantle 2885 28.85 Lower mantle/upper mantle 670 6.7 Upper mantle/crust 7 (oceanic); 40 (continental) 0.07(oceanic);0.4(continental ) 6. Make a large drafting compass out of string and a pencil (or other writing device) and use it to draw the rounded surfaces. 1

Planets Lab Report 7. Take a picture of your completed model and insert it here: Part 2: Scale Model of the Solar System Distance from Sun (AU) Distance from Sun (AU) Mercury 0.39 Jupiter 5.203 Venus 0.732 Saturn 9.539 Earth 1 Uranus 19.18 Mars 1.524 Neptune 30.06 Asteroid belt 2.2 – 3.2 Kuiper belt 30 – 50 2

Planets Lab Report 1. Subtract the distances to get the distance between each planet and the next. Then, using a conversion factor of 15 cm per AU, calculate the distance in cm for each of the planets in your model. Record your distances in the second and third columns on the table below (i.e. from the sun to Mercury, the distance is 0.39 AU per the table above. To convert to cm: 0.39 AU * 15 cm / AU = 5.9 cm). The resulting scale of this solar system model will be 1:10,000,000,000. 2. After you have determined the scale distances, lay out your model of the solar system on the floor. (You can go into a hallway, outside, or anywhere you have enough space.) Use everyday items (cups, bowls, books, etc.) to represent each object in the model. Record the objects you chose in the fourth column in the table below: 1. Distance in AU Converted distance in cm 2. Everyday Object Sun – Mercury 0.39 5.9 Black Pen - Pink Pen Mercury – Venus 0.342 5.13 Pink Pen – Dark Green Pen Venus – Earth 1 15 Dark Green Pen – Dark Blue Pen Earth – Mars 1.524 22.86 Dark blue Pen – Red Pen Mars – Jupiter 5.203 78.045 Red Pen – Elephant Jupiter – Saturn 9.539 143.085 Elephant – Blue Pot Saturn – Uranus 19.18 287.7 Blue Pot – White Potted Plant Uranus – Neptune 30.06 450.9 White Potted Plant – Light Blue Potted Plant 3. Take a picture of your model and insert it here: 3

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Planets Lab Report 4

Planets Lab Report Part 3: Exoplanets The following plot shows all the known exoplanets (planets orb iting stars other than the Sun). 1. There are three main groups of planets visible on this Exoplanets Graph Plot. Using your draw tool, circle each of these three groups using a color other than black . ( Hint: These may end up looking more like ovals than circles!) 2. Give an estimate of the values of mass (x) and separation (y) at its center on the table below : Group of exoplanets x (mass in Jupiter masses) y (distance from star in AU) 5

Planets Lab Report Low mass, low separation (left) 0.01 0.09 High mass, high separation (right top) 3 2 High mass, low separation (right bottom) 2 0.03 3. Next, you are going to plot the solar planets on the Exoplanets Graph Plot. Start by converting the numbers given for their masses below from Earth masses to Jupiter masses. Since Jupiter is 318 times the size of Earth, you will do this by dividing each mass by 318. Enter your results on the table below . Size in… Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Earths 0.06 0.32 1 0.11 318 95 14.6 17.2 Jupiters 0.00018 0.001 0.0031 0.0003 1 0.298 0.045 0.054 4. Once you’ve calculated the values in Jupiter masses, plot all eight solar planets on the Exoplanets Graph Plot on your lab report using a color other than black . The x-value of each point is the planet’s mass in Jupiter masses; the y-value is its distance from the sun in AU, which you used in Part 2 of this lab. 5. Do any of the solar planets fall into the groups that you circled in Part 3 Question 1 on the Exoplanets graph? If so, which planets and which groups? Earth, Jupiter, adn Saturn do. Earth in the Low Mass, Low Separation, with the other two both being in High mass High Spearation. 6. Compare the properties of the planets in our Solar System to the properties of the extrasolar planets you studied here, in terms of their mass and distance to their star. 6

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Planets Lab Report Our solar systems planets are way off of the exo planets, they have way less mass especially ones like our Earth (excluding our gas giants). They are also much further than the sun than our planets are. Part 4: Wrap-Up 1. Which layer of the Earth is the largest? Which is the smallest? Was that what you expected? The largest is the mantle, I really thought it would be the crust, but the crust is actually the smallest. 2. Now that you have seen how far apart the planets are in the solar system, what surprised you the most and why? I was really shocked to see how bunched up most of the planets were and the huge distance between the giants are from us. I always forget how it is quite literally billions of miles separating us. 3. Do the planets in our solar system follow the conventions of the exoplanets in other solar systems? (Are the dots you drew within the circles you drew?) Can you think of any reason why this is (or isn't)? No they don’t, my assumption is that our sun and the way our solar sytem is built is far more unique because of our suns size and distance between planets, I assume this is why we are still the only life we have discovered yet. 4. What would you do to improve this lab for future online students? How & why? I would maybe include a little more in-depth instructions for the models as I am a visual learner and it was quite difficult to follow along, I still feel like I did some things incorrectly. 7

Lab Report_The Planets-5-1 (1)

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