My daugter is building a replica of Saturn and the sun and wants to show how Saturn roates on it's axis and also around the sun. You are some smart guys. Anyhelp? I thought that maybe to rotate on it's axis I could attach saturn to a motor of a musicbox dancer.
I am not sure how to do saturns rings or to rotate around the sun.
stryped fired this volley in news:24f42bdf-9f77- snipped-for-privacy@r41g2000prr.googlegroups.com:
That's OK, Stryped. She won't really care if it doesn't work. She'll be married, and you'll have grandkids by the time it's built.
LLoyd
Maybe search for "Orrery" or look here for some ideas
Saturn rotates more than twice as fast as Earth, different parts of its atmosphere rotate at different speeds, also the rings slip past each other. All this is unreasonable to model but she could write a description that explains it.
I'd print the end-on photo of the rings on acetate and glue it betwen the halves of a tennis ball with airbrushed cloud lines, mount it on a clear plastic arm (towel bar?) that pivots around the beachball sun, and maybe belt the two together with clear fishline so Saturn spins rapidly when you swing the arm around the sun. .
Jim Wilkins
What exactly do you mean by "print it on acetate"?
I like the idea of splittign the tennis ball in half. My daugther wanted saturn to rotate on its axis as well but it in not absolutely necessary.
Overhead projector sheets. The ones I used were for a laser printer but I think you can buy a packet of them for a home ink jet printer. You might want to laminate the printed side after the ink dries. Here's an expensive example:
I made control panel labels out of it by printing text and copying graphics, then attaching it to the project with double-stick tape. The laser printer version is rough on the toner side and absorbs permanent marker ink well, so I could go over the black and colors to intensify them.
Jim Wilkins
Build a mobile and hang it from a ceiling fan. make the planets hollow and place a motor attacked to the rod it hangs from so each will turn. no ideal for the rings
Robert
Have her do it in scale. Have a tennis ball as the sun and have her tell the teacher that Saturn is a BB somewhere on the horizon and she'll have to take two buses and a taxi to get there.
The do have the inkjet ones and you can print them in color. Karl
What about the little Christmas tree motors that turn ornaments?
Thanks! My mom has a balerina that fits on top of the Christmas tree that might work.
Also, whoever had the idea about putting the motor in the planet was good.
What would be good to attach the plantet to the rotating 'arm" Dowel rod?
Thanks! My mom has a balerina that fits on top of the Christmas tree that might work.
Also, whoever had the idea about putting the motor in the planet was good.
What would be good to attach the plantet to the rotating 'arm" Dowel rod?
You would attach the motor to the arm and then the motor to the inside of the ball. that will make the ball turn with the motor.
Robert
The gas giants like Saturn do not rotate as a rigid body like earth. The rotation rate in terms of revolutions per day is latitude dependent. The rings revolve in a somewhat complex manner, again not as a rigid body. To a first approximation they go around at the orbital velocity that a moon would have at the same radius. That is, closer rings orbit faster, the outer rings orbit slower.
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