Do you think the drinking age should be lowered to 18?

Yes
No
Doesn't matter (unless you get caught)

View Results

Introduction to the Solar System

The solar system consists of the Sun, nine planets, some 60 or so moons, and assorted minor materials (asteroids, meteoroids, comets, dust, and gas). All of these objects are tiny in comparison to the distances that separate them. Imagine the solar system scaled down such that distances to the planets could be spaced along a 10-kilometer hiking trail. On such a scale the Sun would be represented by a ball only 2.3 meters in diameter. The distribution along the trail and the model sizes for each of the planets are shown in the following table:

TABLE 1 Scale Model of the Solar System

Object

Position along the Trail

Diameter of Model Sphere

Comment

Sun

At start of trail

2.3 meters

7.6 feet

Mercury

100 meters

0.8 cm

Small marble

Venus

180 meters

2.0 cm

Large marble

Earth

250 meters

2.2 cm

Large marble

Mars

390 meters

1.1 cm

Small marble

Jupiter

1.3 kilometers

24 cm

Small (youth) soccer ball

Saturn

2.4 kilometers

20 cm without rings

Small (youth) soccer ball

Uranus

4.9 kilometers

8.6 cm

Baseball

Neptune

7.6 kilometers

8.3 cm

Baseball

Pluto trail's end

10 kilometers,

0.2 cm

BB, or small ball bearing

Comets

To 25,000 kilometers

20 μ – 200μ

Dust particles

Cite this article

Prepare like a Pro with CliffsNotes AP Digital Flashcards
Get 100 AP Flashcards Cards Now — FREE!
Learn more!