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Build Solar System

Wesley Said:

How can i build a scale model of the solar system?

We Answered:

I'm assuming that he means to scale in terms of size, not distance, because if you scale everything down so that the moon is represented by the ball from a ballpoint pen, your model will still be half a mile long. As far as size, I'll use the same scale. Starting with the smallest item, the moon.

Moon: .5mm - tip from a ballpoint pen (a b*tch to get out, but a good visual)
Mercury: .75mm
Mars: 1mm - head of a pin
Venus: 1.8mm
Earth: 2mm
Neptune: 7.6mm
Uranus: 7.8mm - about the size of a pea
Saturn: 1.7cm - large marble
Jupiter: 2.1cm - slightly larger marble
Sun: 8 inches - a grapefruit, roughly

You can obviously scale it however you want, but that's a starting point.

Hilda Said:

how to build solar system for science project?

We Answered:

Try a Lego Orrery=

http://ecg.mit.edu/george/lego/orrery1.j…
http://blog.makezine.com/lego_orrery.jpg
http://kepler.nasa.gov/ed/sim/images/CUo…
http://kepler.nasa.gov/ed/images/legomod…
http://ecg.mit.edu/george/lego/orrery4.j…

Dustin Said:

How to build a model of the solar system?

We Answered:

http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_…
http://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn…

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