Gizmo Solar System Explorer 2022 - All Answers are Correct

Gizmo Solar System Explorer 2022 - All Answers are Correct Vocabulary: astronomical unit, dwarf planet, eccentricity, ellipse, gas giant, Kepler’s laws, orbit, orbital radius, period, planet, solar system, terrestrial planet 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? 2. An orbit is the path of a body around another body. 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. Activity A: Classifying planets Get the Gizmo ready: ● Click Reset ( ). Planets Classification 4. 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 3.3×1023 kg 2440 km 5.427 g/cm3