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Name ______________________________________ Date ___________________ Solar System Distance Activity Our solar system is immense in size by normal standards. We know that planets revolve around the Sun, but we don’t often consider how far each planet is from the Sun. Astronomers use the distance from the Sun to Earth as one “astronomical unit” (AU). This activity provides an easy way to calculate the distances of the planets from the Sun. You will be making a distance model of the Solar System to scale using beads as planets. The chart below shows the planets and asteroid belt in order from with their distance from the sun in astronomical units. Complete the chart by multiplying each AU distance by the scale factor of 10 cm per astronomical unit. Then use the new figures to construct a scale model of the solar system. You need a 4.5 m piece of string or yarn. Using the distances in cm that you calculated, measure the distance from the sun to each planet and tie it on the string. The sun will be at one end. Astronomical unit (AU) = approximately 150 million kilometers Materials: beads, string or yarn, metric ruler and meter stick Planet Bead color Sun Yellow AU from Sun 0.0 Mercury Solid red 0.4 Venus Cream 0.7 Earth Clear blue 1.0 Mars Clear red 1.5 Asteroid belt Black 2.8 Jupiter Orange 5.0 Saturn Clear gold 10.0 Uranus Dark blue 19.0 Neptune Light blue 30.0 Pluto (dwarf planet Brown – Kuiper belt object) Scale value in cm ( x10 cm per AU) 39.0 When finished, show it to your teacher and then put it in the sandwich bag with this paper.