Gravity in the Solar System Day 1

Gravity in the Solar System Day 1

Learners can:

• use data to describe the relationship between gravitational force and the masses of the interacting objects

• use data to describe the relationship between gravitational force and the distance between interacting objects

Engage

Recall that gravity is an attractive force between all objects. Gravity affects objects that touch one another. Gravity also affects distant objects. Gravity holds the planets in our solar system in their orbits.

The video below reviews gravity, which is also called gravitational force. As you view the video, pay attention to how the amount of mass in an object affects the gravitational force it produces.


https://ccalms.blob.core.windows.net/production/31448/db4ccacb-517d-426b-ba8c-dfeb33856903-20231211160243118-Gravity_(SD_Small_-_WEB_MBL_(H264_900)).mp4

In this lesson, you will complete a simulation that calculates the gravitational force of planets. Planets have enormous masses. For example, Earth's mass is 5,972,190,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg. Working with such large numbers can be challenging. Instead, scientists use scientific notation, which is a way of writing very large or very small numbers.

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Scientific Notation

​https://www.brainpop.com/topic/standard-and-scientific-notation/movie/

​Standard and Scientific Notation Brain Pop

Draw

Can you write Earth's mass in scientific notation?

• a number between 1 and 10

• a base

• an exponent

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Scientific notation always contains three parts

​Notice what happens to the size of the number when the exponent increases.

Multiple Choice

3,450,000 in scientific notation is

• 3.45 x 10⁶

• 3.45 x 10⁵

• 3.45 x 10⁴

• 3.45 x 10⁷

In today's lesson, you will work with numbers written in scientific notation. You do not need to convert scientific notation into standard notation. Simply remember that the exponent tells you how many times to multiply the number by 10. You will learn more about scientific notation in an upcoming lesson. Press to the next page to learn about the law of universal gravitation.

Law of Universal Gravitation

In the 1660s, Sir Isaac Newton described gravity. Newton's claim; now called the law of universal gravitation, states that the attractive force between two objects is proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to their distances. That sounds pretty complicated, but the law of universal gravitation really says two things.

1. Gravity increases as mass increases.

2. Gravity decreases as distance increases.

​Edio Page 5