1. Scale of the Universe By the end of this lesson you will:
Have an understanding about the scale of the Solar System and the Universe
Know what a light year is used to measure

2. Scale of the Solar System
How far away are the different planets in our Solar System?

3. Distances in our Solar System
Name of Planet
Distance from Sun (in kilometres)
Scale Distance
(in metres)
Mercury
57,910,000
Venus
108,200,000
Earth
149,600,000
Mars
227,900,000
Jupiter
778,500,000
Saturn
1,433,000,000
Uranus
2,877,000,000
Neptune
4,503,000,000

4. Distances in our Solar System
Using a scale of 10,000,000 km = 1 metre
Name of Planet
Distance from Sun (in kilometres)
Scale Distance
(in metres)
Mercury
57,910,000
Venus
108,200,000
Earth
149,600,000
Mars
227,900,000
Jupiter
778,500,000
Saturn
1,433,000,000
Uranus
2,877,000,000
Neptune
4,503,000,000

5. Distances in our Solar System
Using a scale of 10,000,000 km = 1 metre
Name of Planet
Distance from Sun (in kilometres)
Scale Distance
(in metres)
Mercury
57,910,000
5.79
Venus
108,200,000
10.82
Earth
149,600,000
14.96
Mars
227,900,000
22.79
Jupiter
778,500,000
77.85
Saturn
1,433,000,000
143.30
Uranus
2,877,000,000
187.70
Neptune
4,503,000,000
450.03

6. Distances in our Solar System
Using a scale of 100,000,000 km = 1 metre
Name of Planet
Distance from Sun (in kilometres)
Scale Distance
(in metres)
Mercury
57,910,000
0.58
Venus
108,200,000
1.08
Earth
149,600,000
1.50
Mars
227,900,000
2.28
Jupiter
778,500,000
7.79
Saturn
1,433,000,000
14.33
Uranus
2,877,000,000
28.77
Neptune
4,503,000,000
45.03

7. Distances to Stars
Distances are so vast in space that an alternative unit to metres is necessary...

8. …Light Years (Not Buzzes)
A light year is the distance travelled by light in one year.
A Light-Year is a measure of distance (NOT TIME)!

9. Distance = speed x time = 300,000,000 x 31,536,000 = 9.46x1015 meters
To calculate this we use the
speed-distance-time equation:
Speed = the speed of light = 300,000,000 meters per second
Time = 1 year = (365 x 24 x 60 x 60) = seconds
Distance = speed x time
= 300,000,000 x 31,536,000
= 9.46x1015 meters
= 9,460,000,000,000,000 m
(nine quadrillion, four hundred and sixty trillion metres!!!!!)

10. Scale of the Universe Summary
Do you now have an understanding about the scale of the solar system and the Universe?
Do you now know what a light year is used to measure?