UNIT 7: Kilo Hoku - Astronomy & Navigation Teachers Notes for Part C: Comparing Planets

Mass, Density & Gravity

1. How much would a can of soda weigh on Pluto? Weigh pennies and place them in soda cans to get the approximate weight of a can on each planetary object or use a material such as quickcrete instead. (More advanced students can calculate the number of pennies needed for each can.) It is helpful to use a different type of soda can for each or paint each can a different color. This allows the students to say, for example, the Coke can represents what a can of soda would weigh on Jupiter and the Pepsi can represents what a can of soda would weigh on Neptune. Tape the tops of each soda can so that the pennies will not fall out. The amount of gravity a planet possesses depends on its mass and volume (density) and radius. Function of mass and radius: g = (GM/R2) where: G = 6.67x10-11 m3kg-1s-1; M =mass of object; R = radius of object A person's weight depends on the mass of the person, mass of the planet and the planets radius. Therefore a person will weigh less on a planet that has less mass and similar radius than the Earth and weigh more on a planet that has a larger mass than the Earth and similar radius. This is illustrated by using a simple can of soda pop. On Earth a 16-ounce can weighs 386 grams. Take several other empty soda cans and fill them with material (lead pellets, marbles, rock, etc.) until they weigh the amounts for each planet shown on the table below (this lists how much a full can of soda would weigh on various planetary objects as well as other statistics about the planetary objects). Body Sun Venus Earth Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Pluto grams 10,808 349 386 64 145 910 352 342 25
2

Pennies ~4139 57 135 149 24 54 348 133 129 166 10

Mass (kg) 1.99E+30 3.42E+23 4.97E+24 6.1E+24 7.32E+22 6.52E+23 1.93E+27 5.8E+26 8.9E+25 1.04E+26 1.09E+22
-11 3 -1 -1;

Radius (km) 69,595 2,440 6,052 6,371 1,738 3,390 71,492 60,268 24,973 24,764 1,151

Density *Gravity **Relative kg/m3 (GM/R2) Gravity 1,409 5,427 5,204 5,515 3,340 3,934 1,326 687 1,290 1,638 2,030 274.03 3.83 9.05 9.82 1.62 3.79 25.20 10.44 9.52 11.10 0.5 27.9 0.4 0.9 1.0 .2 0.4 2.6 1.1 1.0 1.1 0.1

Mercury 145

Neptune 433

* g = (GM/R ) where G = 6.67x10 m kg s M =mass of object; R = radius of object ** Object of interest/Earths Gravity, e.g., for the Sun 274.03/9.82 = 27.9

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