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Worksheet:

"Finding the Rotation Rates of the Sun and Planets"

Directions:

Fill in the period of rotation for the following objects of the solar system:
  • Sun:

  • Jupiter:

  • Saturn:

  • Uranus:

Fill in the rotation rates of:
  • Sun

  • Jupiter

  • Saturn

  • Uranus

Think and explain:

  • What procedures did you use to find the rotation rates?

  • Was there any pattern to the rotation? Distance vs. Spin? Size vs. Spin?

  • Was there any pattern to the direction of spins?

 

  • If you were a famous Martian astronomer looking at Earth, how would you figure out Earth's rotation?

  • Is the angular velocity the same everywhere on the planet? Is the tangential velocity of a planet the same everywhere on the planet? Is this true for all planets?

  • About what time in history did we discover that planets and the Sun rotated? When did most people start believing that the planets and the Sun rotated?

Going Further:

  • Start a journal of Moon observations. See if you can figure out the Moon's rotation rate and its period of rotation.

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