- Sun-any ball, diameter 8.00 inches
- Mercury-a pinhead, diameter 0.03 inch
- Venus-a peppercorn, diameter 0.08 inch
- Earth-a second peppercorn
- Mars-a second pinhead
- Jupiter-a chestnut or a pecan, diameter 0.90 inch
- Saturn-a hazelnut or an acorn, diameter 0.70 inch
- Uranus-a peanut or coffee bean, diameter 0.30 inch
- Neptune-a second peanut or coffee bean
- Pluto- a third pinhead (or smaller, since Pluto is the smallest planet)
This peppercorn is the Earth we live on.
- The Earth is eight thousand miles wide! The peppercorn is eight hundredths of an inch wide. What about the Sun? It is eight hundred thousand miles wide. The ball representing it is eight inches wide. So, one inch in the model represents a hundred thousand miles in reality.
- This means that one yard (36 inches) represents 3,600,000 miles. Take a pace: this distance across the floor is an enormous space-journey called "three million six hundred thousand miles." Now, what is the distance between the Earth and the Sun? It is 93 million miles.
- How would you use this information to find out how far away the earth would be in this model? Divide 93,000,000 by 3,600,000. In the model, this will be 26 yards.
Put the Sun ball down, and march away as follows.
- 10 paces Mercury
- Another 9 paces. Venus
- Another 7 paces. Earth
- Another 14 paces. Mars
- Another 95 paces to Jupiter
- Another 112 paces. Saturn
- Another 249 paces. Uranus
- Another 281 paces. Neptune
- Another 242 paces. Pluto
You have marched more than half a mile! (The distance in the model adds up to 1,019 paces. A mile is 1,760 yards.)