PV Gap

Violet Said:

I'm doing a project on the solar system by making a model of it and I'm not sure how any help please?

We Answered:

You know those styrofoam balls, huh? Well get various sizes of them and then get wire...paint the balls to look like the planets and use the wire to make them like a mobile...idk if that helps

Darren Said:

Making a model of the solar system?

We Answered:

To scale? Do you have any idea how big this thing could possibly be? I recommend that you use Astronomical Units, or AU to set the distances. The distance from the Earth to the sun is 1 AU. See the table below:

Mercury 0.39
Venus 0.723
Earth 1.00
Mars 1.524
Jupiter 5.203
Saturn 9.539
Uranus 19.18
Neptune 30.06
Pluto 39.53

If you build your model so that 1 inch = 1 AU, then the Earth would be 1 inch from the sun, Mercury would be just under half an inch from the sum and Pluto would be about 1 meter (3 feet) away.

Sally Said:

How to make a model of the solar system rotate?

We Answered:

Seriously..
go to the nearest thrift store and see if you can pick up an old record player for $10.
The needle can be shot, no need for speakers... just a nice smooth rotating motor and a table to put your "solar system" on.

Failing that, you could check the toy section of the same store and see if they have either an old "capsella" set, or maybe motorized lego / tinker-toys / erector-set...

Michaels.com has clock motors and foam balls, but my guess is you don;t want to do linkages...

Ronnie Said:

8. Describe the problem of making a scale model of the solar system where the size of the planets and distance

We Answered:

This really is not possible because the size to scale. If you made the Earth the size of a pea, then the Sun would be the size of a basketball. You would have to place them like 1200 feet apart. And Jupiter would be like a mile away. What about Pluto? It would be the size of a crumb and on the other side of the world. Yes, this is just impossible!