Which Planet Has the Strongest Gravitational Pull? List of All Baby Names

The Pull of the Planets

Overview

The Pull of the Planets is a 30-minute activity in which teams of children model the gravitational fields of planets on a flexible surface. Children identify and move assurance of different sizes and densities on a plastic sheet to develop a mental picture of how the mass of an object influences how much event it has on the surrounding space.

This action should be conducted after Heavyweight Champion: Jupiter!, which allows the children to observe the force of gravity in the solar arrangement. These concepts involve more advanced scientific discipline than previous activities in Jupiter's Family Secrets, and they explore more deeply the science of the Juno mission and the rich information it will render to us. Facilitators who cull to undertake this activity should have a house grasp of the scientific basis so that misconceptions are not introduced to the children.

This series is appropriate for children ages 10 to 13.

What's the Point?

• Gravity is the force that keeps planets in orbit effectually the Sunday. Gravity alone holds u.s.a. to Earth'due south surface.
• Planets have measurable backdrop, such every bit size, mass, density, and composition. A planet's size and mass determines its gravitational pull.
• A planet's mass and size determines how stiff its gravitational pull is.
• Models can help the states experiment with the motions of objects in infinite, which are determined by the gravitational pull between them.

Materials

For each group of upwards to 30:

• Computer and projector to show an animation of Juno orbiting Jupiter or an artist's rendering of Juno in orbit, printed preferably in colour from websites such every bit https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/media-gallery/spacecraft.

For each grouping of 4 children:

• 1 (xx" past 12" or larger) embroidery hoop
• Something to back up the edges of the embroidery hoop, such as cream bricks or books
• 1 thin stretchable plastic canvas, like a plastic garbage handbag or sheets of plastic-wrap
• 2–4 (i/two"–broad) minor marbles
• one (ii") Styrofoam™ ball
• Half a tin of Play-Doh^©

For each child:

• His/her My Trip to Jupiter Journal or just the relevant "The Pull of the Planets" folio
• 1 pencil or pen

For the facilitator:

Preparation

• Review the complete background information and the Facilitator's Guide to Gravity.
• Ready the gravity fields: stretch the plastic sheets (plastic wrap or garbage bags) around the inside of the embroidery hoops, then add the outer hoop, keeping the plastic stretched tightly.
• Set out the remainder of the materials.

Activity

1. Inquire the children to connect what they have learned about gravity to the motions of objects in the solar organisation.

• Inquire the children to recall from Heavyweight Champion: Jupiter! Which properties crusade a planet to have more or less gravity? Planets that are massive and have the largest diameters have the most gravity. Which properties do non influence gravity?The presence of an atmosphere, temperature, and distance from the Lord's day do non affect a planet'south gravity.
• Are the objects in the solar organization notwithstanding or are they in motion? The Sun's gravity pulls the planets in orbit around it, and some planets pull moons in orbit around them. Even spacecraft are in motility through the solar arrangement, either in orbit around the Earth or Moon, or traveling to further worlds, considering of gravitational forces. The Juno mission will be pulled into orbit around Jupiter by Jupiter's intense gravity.
• How does gravity influence the movements of objects — such every bit planets — in the solar organisation? Has anyone seen or played with a "gravity well?" How does a "gravity well" model gravity in the solar system — what office of this model is the Sun? The planets? The middle of the gravity well is the Lord's day, and the coins or marbles are a model of the planets. The closer the planet is to the Sun, the greater the pull of the Sun'southward gravity, and the faster the planet orbits. This model fails in that objects in stable orbits practice not fall into the Sun. (Comets are objects with orbits that can easily go unstable and fall into the Sun.)

Facilitator'south Annotation: There are many different misconceptions about gravity; children may think that it is related to an object's move, its proximity to Earth, its temperature, its magnetic field, or other unrelated concepts. Guide conversations charily and listen carefully to what the children say to avert supporting their misconceptions.

two. Tell the children they will make a model of how objects — similar planets — collaborate in infinite.

• Have any of the children played on a trampoline? What happens to the surface of the trampoline when you sit on it? What would happen if a friend tried to roll a ball on the surface with yous sitting on it?

Explain that infinite tin act much similar the surface of the trampoline. The indentations made on the surface represent the "gravity wells" created by massive objects in space.

3. Invite the children to experiment with the same effects on smaller–scale models. Separate the children into groups and give each group a prepared embroidery hoop, suspended in the air on bricks or books. Explain that they will use marbles and Play-Doh balls to model the effects of gravity on objects in space.

• What will happen to the plastic sheets (space) if they add together a marble to it? It will stretch out and the marble will gyre.
• What will happen if there are ii marbles on the sheet? The marbles will curl toward each other.

Facilitator's Note: Gravity is a universal forcefulness, like magnetism and electricity. Withal, it becomes important just at large scales. Gravity determines the interactions stars, planets, and moons.

In the model, the balls are too small-scale to exert a significant gravitational pull on each other. However, they are gravitationally pulled toward Earth! They move toward each other because the weights of heavier objects distort the sheet and lighter objects roll "downhill."

4. Invite the children to experiment with their models of infinite by placing and dropping the marbles (together and separately) onto the canvas.

5. Enquire the groups to each add together a large, 2" round ball of Play-Doh to represent a large "planet" lonely on the canvass. Ask the children to hypothesize what volition happen if the marbles are dropped onto the sail, and have them record their thoughts in their journals before they test them. Later on they have dropped the marbles onto the sheet, share that this "pull" toward the "planets" is a model of gravity.

• How does this model gravity? The marbles are pulled, or "fall," toward the planet.
• Does this large Play-Doh planet represent stiff or weak gravity? This planet has strong gravity — the marbles autumn directly toward it.

Facilitator's Note: The Play-Doh and Styrofoam balls used in steps five–7 serve to create test "wells" on the sheets. They should remain stationary while the children whorl the marbles to see how they move at each footstep. Encourage the children to just roll marbles, as the Play-Doh is sticky and will non model the motion accurately.

half-dozen. Ask the groups to identify a very small circular ball of Play-Doh (about half of the size of a marble), which represents a small asteroid, alone on the sheet. Have them annotation their predictions in their journals and so test what volition happen to marbles added to the sheet.

• What will happen if marbles are added to the sheet now? Why? The marbles may take longer to accomplish the Play-Doh asteroid or may non move toward it at all.
• What type of gravity will a small asteroid take compared to a large planet? It doesn't have very much "gravity".

vii. Enquire the groups to identify the Styrofoam ball alone on the sail and, keeping records in their journals, experiment with its gravitational pull.

• What type of object might the Styrofoam ball model? It can correspond a planet that isn't very dumbo, like Saturn.
• How does its size, mass, and density compare to that of the big Play-Doh "planet"? It is about the same size, just less dense and therefore less massive.
• What will happen when the marbles are added? Will they bear more than similar they did for the large or pocket-sized Play-Doh planets? Again, the marbles may take longer to attain the depression-density giant planet; they won't feel the pull of gravity as strongly as they did with the very big Play-Doh planet.
• Does Saturn have as much gravity equally Jupiter? Saturn's gravity is non very strong compared to Jupiter'due south.

Remind the children that the gravitational pull of a planet depends on its mass and size. Saturn is large in size, but information technology does not have well-nigh equally much mass packed into its book equally Jupiter does.

Facilitator's Notation: Saturn does have enough of mass, and as they explored in Heavyweight Champion: Jupiter!, it does accept gravity. However, because it is not dumbo, a person continuing in its cloud tops would only weigh about every bit much every bit they weigh on Earth. Saturn's cloud tops are far in a higher place the planet's bulky — and gravitationally strong — center.Because the force of gravity depends on both mass and altitude, planets that are puffy and less dumbo take less gravity at their cloud-tops or surfaces, which are far above the bulk of the mass in their interiors. This is why planets like Saturn announced to have less gravity than Neptune, despite Saturn'south greater mass. You may demand to remind the children of what they learned in Dunking the Planets in order for them to understand these hard concepts.

viii. Invite the groups to experiment with dropping the marbles in unlike locations, and with different amounts of Play-Doh or the Styrofoam brawl, in various locations on their gravity field.

• Do the marbles ever briefly circumvolve the planet?
• Do they ever avoid the planet?
• Exercise small asteroids experience gravity? Asteroids and other small bodies, like comets, are besides kept in orbit around the Sun by the Sun's large gravitational pull — fifty-fifty when they are at slap-up distances from the Lord's day. They tin can also exist pulled into orbit around a planet — similar Mars' 2 moons — or bear upon a moon or planet.

9. Later on the children have finished experimenting, talk over their findings.

• How did the marbles behave toward the largest Play-Doh planet? They rolled directly toward it. How was this like gravity? The large planet had a lot of mass, and, in our model, a lot of gravity.
• How did the marbles conduct with the Styrofoam planet? They may have ignored it completely. Why? The brawl did not have much mass, and so information technology had very little gravity in this model.
• Does a big object always accept a lot of mass? No!
• If nosotros can measure the gravity of a planet, and its size, what tin that tell us about that planet? The gravitational pull of the planet can tell usa more about that planet'south mass, which helps us to determine its density and what its interior is like.

Ask the children to describe in their journals, based on their models, how deep a gravity well the Moon, Earth, and Jupiter each create in space. Have them draw how their differences in gravity relate to each object's size and mass.

10. Invite the children to describe how this model of gravity resembles existent gravity and how it fails.

• Practice objects in the solar arrangement move toward each other with real gravity, like they did in the model? Yep.
• Do objects curlicue toward each other in infinite considering of gravity? No, they are tugged simply they don't ringlet.
• Do planets in our solar system ordinarily run across each other? No, they are very far apart and they are orbiting the Sun. Sometimes comets and asteroids collide with planets, though.

Facilitator'south Note: Children likewise may not sympathise that the planets are not being significantly pulled toward each other. They are strongly pulled toward the Sun, but since they are also moving, they motility effectually the Sun in stable orbits. Smaller objects like comets and asteroids may accept less circular orbits that cantankerous the paths of planets — sometimes resulting in a standoff. Be careful when identifying the objects in this activity not to introduce misconceptions regarding planets' orbits and collisions.

Conclusion

Explain that the Juno mission to Jupiter volition feel Jupiter's gravity in much the same style equally a very, very modest marble might in our model. Testify a picture or video animation of Juno orbiting Jupiter. (Juno will orbit Jupiter, however, rather than falling into it.) Juno's instruments will keep careful track of how Jupiter'due south pull on the spacecraft changes every bit the spacecraft passes over the planet's surface. In this way, Juno will be able to measure out how Jupiter's gravity is unlike from identify to identify. By measuring the slight changes in Juno'due south trajectory, scientists volition learn where exactly Jupiter keeps the majority of its mass in its deep interior. Scientists can then infer details about the limerick of Jupiter'south unseen lower layers and cadre.

• How strong a pull volition Juno feel every bit it orbits Jupiter? A very strong pull!

If possible, build on the children's noesis by offering them a hereafter Jupiter'southward Family Secrets activity. Invite the children to return to wrap-up their investigations of Jupiter by attention the concluding activity, My Trip to Jupiter, where they create scrapbooks to document their own journeys into Jupiter's deepest mysteries!

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Source: https://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/solar_system/activities/bigKid/planetPull/

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