Solar System Scale Model
Use the following equations to calculate the scale size of each planet as well as the scale distance from
the Sun. For this activity, we will assume that the Earth’s diameter is 1 inch.
To calculate the scale diameter of each planet, use the following equation and enter your answers in
table below:
Scale Planet Diameter
Scale Earth Diameter
=
Actual Planet Diameter
Actual Earth Diameter
Once we have the relative sizes of each planet (as well as the Sun and Pluto) calculated, we need to
figure out how far apart they need to be in our model. Use the following equation to calculate the
distance each planet (and Pluto) would be from the Sun:
Scale Diameter
(
Actual Distance
)
Actual Diameter
=
Scale Distance
This equation will give you an answer in inches, which we will convert to feet simply by dividing by 12
.
Enter the scale distance from the Sun in feet in the table below:
Scale Diameter
(inches)
Actual Diameter
(miles)
Scale Distance from
the Sun (ft)
Actual Distance
from the Sun (mi)
Sun
546.6
865,370
0
0
Mercury
1.9
3,032
1,827
35,000,000
Venus
4.7
7,521
3,526
67,000,000
Earth
5.0
7,917.5
4,894
93,000,000
Mars
2.7
4,212
7,473
142,000,000
Jupiter
54.9
86,881
25,471
484,000,000
Saturn
45.7
72,367
46,785
889,000,000
Uranus
19.9
31,518
94,201
1,790,000,000
Neptune
19.3
30,599
151,563
2,880,000,000
Pluto
0.9
1,477
193,138
3,670,000,000
Proxima Centauri
84.2
133,320
1,331,438,796
25,300,000,000,000
