How Old Are You?
Purpose
To understand the relationship between planetary orbits around the
Sun and our measure of time.
Background
Your birthday is actually a celebration of a trip made by Earth
around the Sun one time. For each trip around our star we "age" one
year... or at least that is how we humans express it. How "old" are
you on the other eight planets in our solar system?
Procedure
1.
Figure your age in Earth days. [your age x 365]
2.
For the terrestrial planets, divide your age in Earth days by the
number of Earth days in a planet's year. The answer is your "new"
age.
Example for Mercury - for a person 20 years old on Earth:20 x 365
= 7300 Earth days old7300 / 88 (Earth days in Mercury's year) =
83The 20 Earth-year-old person would be 83 years old on Mercury!
3.
For the outer planetrs, find the number of Earth days in each planet's
year. Then divide your age in days by the number of Earth days in
that planet's year. The answer is your "new" age.
Example for Jupiter - for a person 20 years old on Earth:20 x 365 =
7300 Earth days old12 Earth years x 365 Earth days/year = 4380
Earth days in one Jupiter year.7300 / 4380 = 1.7The 20 Earth-yearold person would be 1.7 years old on Jupiter!
4.
Follow the examples and fill in the blanks in the "New" Age Chart.
Key Words
year
orbit
terrestrial planet
outer planet Materials
"New" Age Chart
calculators