Robert Krampf's Experiment of the Week

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

This Week's Experiment - #460 Scale Model of the Solar System

Greetings from Peoria, Illinois.   I have been doing shows at the Lakeview
Museum, home of the world's largest complete model of the solar system.   I wish
I were going to be here a little longer, because on April 1, they are having
an interplanetary run/walk, and I think it would be fun to be able to say that
I had walked to Mars.   Later in the year, they also have a huge
interplanetary bike ride.   If you want information on these events, or if you want to
visit the Lakeview Museum, go to http://www.lakeview-museum.org/

This week's experiment comes from my friend Sheldon Schafer, who runs the
Education Department and Planetarium here.   It is an easy way to get an idea of
how large our solar system really is.   To try this, you will need:

one standard 240 sheet roll of toilet tissue
a large area

We will start at the center, with the sun, which in our model is about the
size of your thumbnail.   Then we will use the tissue as a measuring tool.  
Starting from the sun, if you unroll two sheets, you have reached the orbit of
Mercury.   Each sheet of tissue represents about 25 million kilometers, and the
orbit of Mercury is about 57,900,000 kilometers from the sun, which puts us
just a hair past 2 sheets.   If you want to add the planet Mercury to your
model, use a very fine pencil point to make a tiny dot.   That dot is still too
big, but it will do for our purposes.

Unroll two more sheets and you get to the orbit of Venus, 108,100,000
kilometers from the sun.   Again, you can add Venus by making another very tiny dot. 
Again, the scale model of Venus would be smaller than your dot.

Unroll two more sheets and you get to the Earth, at 149,500,000 kilometers.  
Another tiny dot goes here.

To get to the orbit of Mars, unroll three more sheets, which puts us at
227,800,000 kilometers.   One more tiny dot will represent Mars.

Next in line is the orbit of planet Jupiter.   To get to Jupiter, unroll 21
more sheets, for a total of 30 sheets from the sun.   The orbit of Jupiter is
778,000,000 kilometers from the Sun.   This time we can make a bigger dot,
about .07 centimeters if you have a metric ruler.

From Jupiter to the orbit of Saturn, unroll 30 more sheets, and make a dot
about .06 centimeters.   At this point, we are 1,427,000,000 kilometers from the
Sun.

After Saturn, the next orbit if Uranus, and we will need 60 more sheets to
get there, for a total of 120 sheets from the sun, 2,869,000,000 kilometers.  
Here, we go back to making the tiniest dot that you can.

From the orbit of Uranus to the orbit of Neptune, unroll 60 more sheets,
representing 4,497,000,000 kilometers from the Sun, and make another tiny dot.

60 more sheets will take us to the orbit of Pluto, 5,900,000,000 kilometers
from the Sun.   You would need a microscope to see a dot that was the proper
scaled size for Pluto in our model.

Now look back over your solar system.   Look at all the open space, and the
tiny planets.   Think that is a lot of open space?   Maybe you want to add in
the nearest star, Proxima Centauri.   It is only 4.2 light years away, a mere
38,000,000,000,000 kilometers away.   To do that, you would need 6334 rolls of
toilet tissue, just over 96 miles of tissue, and that is just to the closest
star.   That vast amount of space requires some thought, which for me involves
some ice cream to fill some of the empty space inside me.  

Have a wonder filled week. 

****************************************
This weekly e-mail list is free from charge.   You are welcome to forward it
to friends, print it in your newsletter, repost it on the Internet, etc., as
long as you do not charge for them and my name and e-mail address are
included. 

Please forward this e-mail to anyone that you think might enjoy it. 

To join the list, send a blank e-mail to:  krampf-subscribe@topica.com

on-line archives are located at: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/krampf/messages
http://www.topica.com/lists/krampf/read

***************************
Robert Krampf's on-the-road schedule:
My calendar is now on-line.  You can see a detailed calendar, with dates,
times, schools, etc. at http://www.krampf.com/m_tour.html


***************************

Check out my web site at:
http://www.krampf.com

From Robert Krampf's Science Education Company
PO Box 60982
Jacksonville, FL  32236-0982
904-388-6381