Interactive Exhibit: Gravity Well
Description:
The surface of this gravity well is a model of the “fabric of space.” The gravity of large or dense objects
depresses or distorts this “fabric.” For example, imagine the Sun at the center of the well. Its great
gravity depresses a deep hole into the fabric of space. Imagine that your coin is a planet orbiting the
Sun. When your coin is far from the hole, it orbits
slowly. As it nears the hole, it moves faster and
faster. The same is true for the planets orbiting the
Sun. Distant planets orbit the Sun slowly. Planets
close to the Sun, like Mercury, move rapidly.
The gravity well also is a model for an exotic
region in the Universe: a Black Hole. A Black Hole
is a theoretical object with a surface gravity so
great that nothing -- not even light -- can escape
its gravitational pull. An object passing near a
Black Hole is pulled in by the Black Hole’s great
gravity. As the object falls into the Hole, it travels
in smaller and smaller orbits, accelerating faster
and faster. At the “entrance” of the Black Hole, the
object -- trapped gas, planet, or star -- reaches the
speed of light and disappears from our view
forever. Today, astronomers are still debating
what happens to material that falls into a flack hole.
Insert a penny, nickel, dime, or quarter into the slot on the edge and launch your coin into orbit. As the
coin gets closer to the central hole, it moves faster and faster. Eventually, after many “orbits,” the hole
swallows the coin. The coins become donations to the science center. Thank you!
Information:
 Suitable for all grades; especially fascinating to younger children.
 Participants should note how coins launched into the gravity well change their speeds as they
approach the center of the well.
 5 or 6 participants at a time.
 Self-guided.
Components:
 The closer an object is to the center of a gravity well, the faster it moves, or orbits; just as coins
show different speeds in this model, depending whether they are close-in or far away, so too do
planets orbit the Sun at different speeds, depending upon their distances from the Sun. This
concept can be related to the Planet Wall exhibit nearby.
 An object orbiting another body in space rarely does so in a perfect circle; nearly all natural
planetary and satellite orbits are ellipses.
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 Thanks to Einstein’s work in the early 20th century, gravity may be thought of as being the effect
of space that curves in the vicinity of an object with mass.
 See also the Weight on Other Planets exhibit along the Planet Wall.
Sunshine State Standards Addressed:
Kindergarten:
• K.E.5.1 Explore the Law of Gravity by showing how objects are pulled to the ground unless
something holds them up.
• K.P.12.1 Investigate that things move in different ways, such as fast and slow.
• K.P.13.1 Observe that a push or a pull can change the way an object is moving.
st
1 Grade:
• 1.P.12.1 Describe the various ways and objects can move: straight line, zig-zag, back & forth, fast
& slow.
• 1.P.13.1 Demonstrate the way to change the motion of an object is to apply a push or a pull.
nd
2
Grade:
• 2.P.13.1 Investigate the effect of applying various pushes & pulls on different objects.
• 2.P.13.3 Recognize that objects are pulled toward the ground unless something holds them up.
rd
3 Grade:
• 3.P.10.1 Identify some basic forms of energy such as light, heat, sound electrical and mechanical.
• 3.P.10.2 Recognize that energy has the ability to cause motion or create change.
th
4 Grade:
• 4.P.10.1 Observe & describe some basic forms of energy including light, heat sound, electrical
and energy of motion.
• 4.P.10.1 Investigate & describe some basic forms of energy including light, heat sound, electrical,
chemical and mechanical.
th
5 Grade:
• 5.P.10.2 Investigate & explain that energy has the ability to cause motion or create change.
th
6 Grade:
• 6.P.11.1 Explore the Law of Conservation of Energy by differentiating between potential & kinetic
energy. Identify situations where kinetic energy is transformed into potential energy & vice versa.
• 6.P.13.1 Investigate & describe types of forces including contact forces and forces acting at a
distance such as electrical, magnetic and gravitational.
• 6.P.13.2 Explore the Law of Gravity by noting that every object exerts a gravitational force on
every other object and that the force depends on the masses of the objects and the distance
between them.
• 6.P.13.3 Investigate & describe that an unbalanced force acting on an object changes its speed,
direction of motion or both.
th
7 Grade:
• 7.P.11.2 Investigate & describe the transformation of energy from one form to another.
th
th
9 – 12 Grade:
• 912.P.10.1 Differentiate among the various forms of energy and note that they can be
transformed from one form to another.
• 912.P.10.6 Create & interpret potential energy diagrams, for example: chemical reactions, orbits
Gravity Well - Page 3 of 3
around a central body and motion of a pendulum.
This project sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State,
Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, and the National
Endowment for the Arts.