Planets
Name ____________________________________________
How can I use scientific notation to represent the scale of the solar system?
Scientific Notation Diameter
Mercury
57,910,000 km
4,800 km
Venus
108,200,000 km
12,100 km
Earth
149,600,000 km
12,750 km
Mars
227,940,000 km
6,800 km
Jupiter
778,330,000 km
142,800 km
Saturn
1,429,400,000 km
120, 660 km
Uranus
2,870,990,000 km
51,800 km
Neptune
4,504,300,000 km
49,500 km
Pluto
5,913,520,000 km
3,000 km
Scientific Notation
Making a Scale Model
Name ___________________________________
Convert the distances from the sun and the diameter of the planets in mm (km – mm = how many jumps to the right?
Scale distance
in millimeters
Mercury
Diameter
57,910,000 km
4,800 km
Venus
108,200,000 km
12,100 km
Earth
149,600,000 km
12,750 km
Mars
227,940,000 km
6,800 km
Jupiter
778,330,000 km
142,800 km
Saturn
1,429,400,000 km
120, 660 km
Uranus
2,870,990,000 km
51,800 km
Neptune
4,504,300,000 km
49,500 km
Pluto
5,913,520,000 km
3,000 km
Scale distance in
millimeters
Scientific
Notation for
diameter in mm
How long would your paper need to be to hold the entire solar system?
How big would Jupiter be?
How big would Pluto be?
Why do you think scientists do not create a scale model of the solar system where both the planets and
distances are on the same scale?