Toilet Paper Solar System
In this activity, participants will build a scale model of the distances in the solar system using a roll of toilet paper to better understand distances in space.
What You Need
- Table of distances to give to participants- Attached in the guide. (Two to choose from: The longer [200 sheets] requires 85 ft., the shorter [100 sheets] requires 42 ft. of space.)
- Pens
- Tape
- Rolls of toilet paper
Guide
Safety Notes
Ensure you are familiar with Let's Talk Science's precautions with respect to safe virtual outreach to youth.
What To Do
- Take one sheet of toilet paper as a test sheet for the pens. Make sure the ink is not too wet, that the pens don't easily tear the paper. Also, have participants practice writing on the delicate paper with one test sheet. After they have learned the best way to write on toilet paper, throw away the test sheet.
- Suggest they make a dot on the seam between the first two sheets of toilet paper. This is the Sun. Write the word Sun beside the dot.
- Then they can use the table of numbers provided to mark off the distances to each of the planets. The number in the table is the number of sheets of toilet paper needed to reach the orbit of each planet. It is important to tell participants that the counts in the table are starting from the Sun, not from the previous planet. Thus, after get to Mercury, you need 1.7 more sheets to get to Venus. They should make a dot and write the appropriate planet name on the toilet paper at the distance indicated. Ceres, the largest asteroid, is used to represent the asteroid belt.
- If you don't have the time or space to complete the model, try to get to Jupiter and note that Saturn nearly doubles the distance. The same is true of going from Saturn to Uranus. Or, try using the short version of the scale in the third column of the attachment.
- Toss the toilet paper in recycling to clean up.
Discovery
Astronomers believe there is a vast cloud of frozen comets called the Oort Cloud that surrounds our solar system. It lies roughly 50,000 times farther from the Sun than the Earth is. How many squares of toilet paper would you need to put the cloud on your model?
Investigate Further
Astronomers believe there is a vast cloud of frozen comets called the Oort Cloud that surrounds our solar system. It lies roughly 50,000 times farther from the Sun than the Earth is. How many squares of toilet paper would you need to put the cloud on your model?