Assume a textbook shows a diagram of the solar system on, say, a standard notebook-sized sheet. The orbits of eight planets are sketched around the Sun at the center. The planets and orbits are drawn large enough that features like continents on Earth or the rings of Saturn are clearly visible. The Sun is drawn large enough that sunspots are clearly visible. Discuss what is wrong or right with
this diagram.
What will be an ideal response?
The diagram is correct in that there are eight planets orbiting the Sun. It is incorrect in several ways. One, if the Sun and planets were drawn to scale, it would be impossible to make out surface features of the Sun or Earth, or the rings of Saturn. Two, although the planets orbit the Sun, the orbits are not perfect circles but ellipses.
You might also like to view...
The twinkling of the stars is a result of atmospheric
A) reflection. B) refraction. C) scattering. D) dispersion. E) aberrations.
Frank says that if you release the string when swinging a ball in a horizontal circle, the ball flies out in the radial direction defined by the string at the instant you release the ball. John says that it flies out along a tangent line perpendicular to the string, and that it then drops straight down to the ground. Which one, if either, is correct?
a. Frank, because the centrifugal force is no longer counteracted by the string. b. Frank, because balls naturally fly straight out. c. John, because there is no centrifugal force. d. John, because balls fall straight down when released. e. Neither, because although there is no centrifugal force, and the ball's velocity is tangent to the circle at the instant of release, the ball then follows a parabolic trajectory.
Relative Velocity: A pickup truck moves at 25 m/s toward the east. Ahmed is standing in the back and throws a baseball in what to him is the southwest direction at 28 m/s (with respect to the truck). A person at rest on the ground would see the ball moving how fast in what direction?
What will be an ideal response?
Energy and Mass: One of the first atomic explosion released approximately 1.0 × 1014 J of energy. How much matter had to be changed into energy to produce this yield? (c = 3.0 × 108 m/s)
A. 1.1 g B. 23 g C. 13 g D. 0.45 kg E. 1.1 kg