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The Solar System

SC.8.E.5.7 - Compare and contrast the properties of objects in the Solar System, including the Sun, planets, and Moons to those of Earth, such as gravitational force, distance from the Sun, speed, movement, temperature, and atmospheric conditions

SC.8.E.5.4 Explore the Law of Universal Gravitation by explaining the role that gravity plays in the formation of planets, stars, and Solar Systems and in determining their motions.

Gravity and the Solar System - 

 

Objectives

  • Explain how the formation of the Solar System is attributed to gravity.

  • Explain how gravity is the main force that causes the motion of planets, stars, and Solar Systems.

  • Illustrate how gravitational force increases as the masses of the objects increase, or as the distance between objects decrease.

  • Identify that as an object's mass increases, its weight will also increase (and vice versa).

  • Describe the difference between an object's mass (measure of matter) and an object's weight (measure of gravity).

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Essential Question - 

  • What is gravity’s role in the formation of Solar Systems and in determining the motion of objects as they revolve around the Sun?

  • How does changing the mass of an object in space change the gravitational attraction?

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