The Cosmic Perspective (9th Edition)
9th Edition
ISBN: 9780134874364
Author: Jeffrey O. Bennett, Megan O. Donahue, Nicholas Schneider, Mark Voit
Publisher: PEARSON
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Chapter 1, Problem 35EAP
Thinking About Scale. One key to success in science is finding simple ways to evaluate new ideas, and making a simple scale model is often helpful. Suppose someone tells you that the reason it is warmer during the day than at night is that the day side of Earth is closer to the Sun than the night side. Evaluate this idea by thinking about the size of Earth and its distance from the Sun in a scale model of the solar system.
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We need to create a scale model of the solar system (by shrinking the sun down to the size of a basketball or ~30cm). First, we will need to scale down actual solar system dimensions (planet diameters and average orbital radiuses) by converting our units. There are two blank spaces in the table below. We will effectively fill in the missing data in the next set of questions. Use the example below to help you.
Example: What is the scaled diameter of Mercury if the Sun is scaled to the size of a basketball (30 cm)?
The actual diameter of Mercury is 4879 km
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If the Sun is to be reduced to the size of a basketball, then the conversion we need for this equation will be:
30cm1392000km
Here is how we run the conversion: 4879km×30cm1392000km=0.105cm or 0.11cm if we were to round our answer.
This means that if the sun in our model is the size of a basketball, Mercury is the size of a grain of sand. We can also see by looking at the table, that we would…
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Chapter 1 Solutions
The Cosmic Perspective (9th Edition)
Ch. 1 - Prob. 1VSCCh. 1 - Prob. 2VSCCh. 1 - Prob. 3VSCCh. 1 - Prob. 4VSCCh. 1 - Prob. 1EAPCh. 1 - Define astronomical unit and light-year.Ch. 1 - Explain the statement “The farther away we look in...Ch. 1 - Prob. 4EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 5EAPCh. 1 - What do we mean when we say that the universe is...
Ch. 1 - In what sense are we “star stuff”?Ch. 1 - Use the cosmic calendar to describe how the human...Ch. 1 - Briefly explain Earth’s daily rotation and annual...Ch. 1 - Briefly describe our solar system’s location and...Ch. 1 - Prob. 11EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 12EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 13EAPCh. 1 - Does it Make Sense? Decide whether the statement...Ch. 1 - Prob. 15EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 16EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 17EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 18EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 19EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 20EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 21EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 22EAPCh. 1 - Which of the following correctly lists our ‘cosmic...Ch. 1 - An astronomical unit is (a) any planet’s average...Ch. 1 - The star Betelgeuse is about 600 light-years away....Ch. 1 - Prob. 26EAPCh. 1 - The total number of stars in the observable...Ch. 1 - Prob. 28EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 29EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 30EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 31EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 32EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 34EAPCh. 1 - Thinking About Scale. One key to success in...Ch. 1 - Prob. 36EAPCh. 1 - A Human Adventure. Astronomical discoveries...Ch. 1 - Prob. 38EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 39EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 40EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 41EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 42EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 43EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 44EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 45EAPCh. 1 - Spacecraft Communication. We use radio waves,...Ch. 1 - Prob. 47EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 48EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 49EAPCh. 1 - Driving Trips. Imagine that you could drive your...Ch. 1 - Faster Trip. Suppose you wanted to reach Alpha...Ch. 1 - Prob. 52EAPCh. 1 - Earth Rotation Speed. Mathematical Insight 1.3...Ch. 1 - Order of Magnitude Estimate. Mathematical Insight...
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