Name: _Adrianna Rosa_____________________________________ Date:

Student Exploration: Solar System Explorer

Vocabulary: astronomical unit, dwarf planet, eccentricity, ellipse, gas giant, Kepler’s laws, orbit,
orbital radius, period, planet, solar system, terrestrial planet

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. List all of the planets you can think of in our solar system. Try to list them in order from
closest to farthest from the Sun.

___Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune (sometimes Pluto
lol)______________________________________________________________________

2. Which planets are most like Earth? Which are most different from Earth? Explain.

__Mars and venous are the most like Earth, because they have similar atmosphere and
elements on such planets. The Planet s that are most different are the Gas Giants, because
they aren’t created the same way as Earth.____________________________________

Gizmo Warm-up
The Solar System Explorer Gizmo shows a model of the solar
system. All of the distances, but not the sizes of the planets, are
shown to scale. To begin, turn on Show orbital paths and click
Play ( ). You are looking at the four inner planets.

1. In which direction do planets go around the Sun, clockwise

or counterclockwise? ____Counterclockwise________

2. An orbit is the path of a body around another body. What is the shape of the planetary

orbits around the Sun?

___circular/ellipse___________________________________________________

3. Click Pause ( ). You can see the name of each planet by holding your cursor over the
planet. What is the order of the eight planets, starting from the Sun? Click the “zoom out”
button ( ) to see the outer planets and Pluto, which is classified as a dwarf planet.

___Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Pluto is classified as a
Dwarf Planet._________________

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 Activity A:
Get the Gizmo ready:
Classifying
 Click Reset ( ).
planets

Question: How are planets classified?

1. Think about it: How do you think astronomers group planets? _____based off of their
atmosphere and what they are made of (rock vs. gas planets)___________________

_________________________________________________________________________

2. Gather data: Select Mercury from the Solar system menu at left. Turn on Additional data.
In the table below, record Mercury’s Mass, Mean radius, and Density. Then repeat for
each of the other planets as well as the dwarf planet Pluto. Include units.

Planet Mass (×1023 kg) Mean radius (km) Density (g/cm3)

Mercury 3.3 2,440 5.427
Venus 48.7 6,052 5.243
Earth 59.7 6,378 5.515
Mars 6.4 3,397 3.933
Jupiter 18,990 71,490 1.326
Saturn 5,680 60,270 0.687
Uranus 869 25,560 1.27
Neptune 1,020 24,760 1.638
Pluto (dwarf planet) 0.1 1,195 1.75

3. Analyze: What patterns do you notice in your data table? _______With planets that have a
greater mass, the density is smaller____________________

4. Analyze: Based on the data you have collected, how would you divide the planets into two
groups? Explain your reasoning. (Note: Do not include Pluto in these groups.)

____One group would have a density greater than 3 g/cm^3 and the other group is a density
less than 2 g/cm^3._______________________________________________

(Activity A continued on next page)

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Activity A (continued from previous page)

5. Classify: Astronomers classify the eight planets in our solar system into two groups:
terrestrial planets and gas giants. Terrestrial planets have rocky surfaces, while gas
giants are composed mainly of gas. Based on your data, classify each planet as a terrestrial
planet or a gas giant. (Hint: Look at the density of each planet.)

Mercury: __Terrestrial______ Jupiter: _Gas Giant_________

Venus: __ Terrestrial _____ Saturn: _ Gas Giant ________

Earth: __ Terrestrial _____ Uranus: _ Gas Giant ________

Mars: __ Terrestrial _____ Neptune: _ Gas Giant ________

6. Summarize: Compare the masses, radii, and densities of the terrestrial planets and the gas
giants.

A. What do the terrestrial planets have in common? ___They all have a rocky surface,
have a smaller mass, and a greater density._________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

B. What do the gas giants have in common? ___They are all made of gas, have a
larger mass, and a smaller density_______________________________

7. Extend your thinking: Why doesn’t Pluto fit into either the terrestrial planet group or the gas

giant group? ____Pluto doesn’t fit into either category because its mass and density are

both small___________________________________________________________

8. Think and discuss: Why do you think the inner planets are small and dense, while the outer
planets are gas giants? If possible, discuss your ideas with your classmates and teacher.

_Because of where they are located near the sun.

________________________________________________________________________

______________

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity B:
 Click Reset.
Planetary orbits  Click the “zoom in” button ( ) several times to
zoom in as far as possible.

Introduction: Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) was a German astronomer who spent years
poring over a vast store of planetary data compiled by his predecessor, Tycho Brahe. After
many incorrect theories and other setbacks, Kepler at last determined the beautifully simple
physical laws that govern orbiting bodies. These rules are now known as Kepler’s laws.

Question: What rules describe the size and shape of planetary orbits?

1. Observe: Select Mercury from the Solar system menu. Look at Mercury’s orbit.

A. What do you notice? ____One part of the orbit is closer to the sun and the other side
is further away______________________________________________

B. Is Mercury always the same distance from the Sun? _No__________________

Kepler’s first law states that an orbit is in the shape of a slightly flattened circle, or ellipse.
While a circle contains a single point at its center, an ellipse contains two critical points,
called foci. The Sun is located at one focus of a planet’s orbit.

2. Gather data: The eccentricity of an ellipse describes how “flattened” it is. A circle has an
eccentricity of 0, and a flat line segment has an eccentricity of 1.

A. Look at the data displayed at left. What is the eccentricity of Mercury’s orbit? _0.206_

B. Zoom out to look at the other orbits. Which object’s orbit is even more eccentric than

the orbit of Mercury? _________Pluto orbit is very eccentricity_______________

3. Observe: Zoom in all the way, and select Mercury again. Check that the simulation speed is
Slow and click Play. Observe the speed of Mercury as it goes around the Sun.

What do you notice? ___It rotates the quickest around the

sun_____________________________________________________

Kepler’s second law states that a planet speeds up as it gets closer to the Sun, and slows
down as it moves farther away.

4. Confirm: Charge the speed to Fast and zoom out to observe Pluto. Does Pluto follow

Kepler’s second law? Explain. ____No, Pluto looks like its goes around its orbit quicker than

Neptune._____________________________________________

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity C:
 Click Reset.
Planetary periods  Zoom out as far as possible.
 Set the speed to Fast.

Introduction: Kepler’s third law describes the relationship between a planet’s orbital radius, or
its mean distance from the Sun, and the planet’s period, or amount of time to complete an orbit.

Question: How does a planet’s orbital radius relate to its period?

1. Predict: How do you think the period of a planet will change as its distance from the Sun

increases? ___the period should be longer the further away from the sun.______________

2. Observe: Click Play, and observe the orbits of all the planets. What is the relationship

between the speed of planets and their distance from the Sun? Except for Pluto, the further

away from the sun, the slower the period______________________

3. Measure: Click Reset and zoom in as far as possible. Click Play, and then Pause when
Earth is aligned with either the grid’s x-axis or y-axis. Note the starting time below.

Then click Play, and then click Pause again when Earth is in exactly the same position.
Note the ending time below.

Starting time Month: __9___ Day: __24___ Year: _2023_

Ending time Month: __9___ Day: __24___ Year: _2024_

4. Calculate: What is Earth’s period? _1 year/12 months___________________________

Earth takes 12 months to complete an orbit, so Earth’s period is 12 months, or one year.

5. Measure: The distance units shown are the grid are called astronomical units (AU). Look

at Earth’s orbit. How far is Earth from the Sun in AU? ___1.0 AU____________________

As you can see, one astronomical unit is equal to the mean Earth-Sun distance, which is
approximately 150,000,000 kilometers.

(Activity C continued on next page)

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Activity C (continued from previous page)

6. Gather data: Use the Additional data display to find the orbital radius and period of each
planet. Record this data in the first two columns of the table below. Include units.

Mean orbital Period

Planet R3 T2
radius (AU) (Earth years)
Mercury 0.387 0.24
Venus 0.723 0.62
Earth 1.0 1.0
Mars 1.52 1.88
Jupiter 5.2 11.86
Saturn 9.55 29.46
Uranus 19.2 84.01
Neptune 30.1 164.79

7. Analyze: What happens to the period as the orbital radius increases? ___The period
increases_______________

8. Calculate: Kepler discovered a very interesting relationship between the cube of each
planet’s orbital radius and the square of its period. Use a calculator to find the cube of each
planet’s orbital radius, and record these values in the “R 3” column of the table. Record the
squares of the periods in the “T 2” column.

How do the numbers in the “R 3” and “T 2” columns compare? ________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Kepler’s third law states that the cube of the orbital radius is proportional to the square of the
period for any orbiting body. If the orbital radius is measured in astronomical units and the
period is measured in Earth years, the numbers are nearly identical.

9. Predict: Pluto has an orbital radius of 39.529 AU. Based on Kepler’s third law, what is the

approximate period of Pluto’s orbit? ____________________________________________

(Hint: Find the cube of the orbital radius first, and then take the square root.)

10. Confirm: Look up Pluto’s actual period in the Gizmo. What is it, and how does it compare to

the calculated value? ________________________________________________________

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