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Objectives
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Materials
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Scientific calculators
Rulers
Introduction
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12/19/11
cp03a_distance_sun.pages
Procedure
Rung 1: The Size of the Earth
This step was first performed by Eratosthenes and involves a very simple model for just the Sun and the
Earth.
1) the Earth is a sphere
2) the Sun is infinitely far away so that its light reaches us in parallel rays
The fact that the Earth is a sphere was known from elementary observations: The shape of the Earths
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shadow on the Moon during an eclipse and the way a tall ship slowly disappeared as it sailed away. But,
what
is the significance of assuming the Sun to be extremely far away?
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Eratosthenes
knew that at noon on the summer
'
solstice, the Sun would shine clear to the bottom of a
deep vertical pit in the city of Syene, a city on the '
Tropic of Cancer. This meant that the Sun was at the
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zenith at that moment. Living in Alexandria, which69AA+2'6,B6.)7+'134'./+'B,3<+6.'41@',-'./+'@+12XC'./+'
(93'D,9B4'6/)3+')3.,'./+'=,..,A',-'1'4++E'>+2.)71B'
was located close to due north of Syene, Eratosthenes
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could measure the length of a shadow cast by an *+3)./')3'./+'6G@'1.'./)6'.)A+:'V+)3<')3'JB+I1342)1C'
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obelisk at the same time, noon on the summer solstice.
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This measurement, along with the height of the
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obelisk, gave him the angle that the Sun appeared to6,B6.)7+:'M/)6'A+1692+A+3.C'1B,3<'D)./'./+'/+)</.',-'
the south of the zenith in Alexandria, an angle he ./+',=+B)6GC'<1>+'/)A'./+'13<B+'./1.'./+'(93'
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determined to be 7.2 degrees.
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The Sun was not as high in the sky in Alexandria as.)A+',-'41@'134'./+'61A+'.)A+',-'@+12:'M/)6')6')3'-17.'
in
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Syene at the same time of day and the same time of 1'A+1692+A+3.',-'./+'792>1.92+',-'./+'012./d6'6E/+2+'
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year. This is in fact a measurement of the curvature=+.D++3'(@+3+'134'JB+I1342)1C'134',37+'4)6.137+',-'
of
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the Earths sphere between Syene and Alexandria, and
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4)6.137+'=+.D++3'JB+I1342)1'134'(@+3+C'1'4)6.137+',-'e%%%
once the distance of this small arc is known, the circumference
of the entire Earth could be determined.
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1
To this end, he ordered some soldiers to march off the
distance between Alexandria and Syene, a
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4)6.137+'=+.D++3'JB+I1342)1'134'(@+3+C'1'4)6.137+',-'e%%%'6.14)1'U./,9</.'.,41@'.,'=+'+[9)>1B+3.'.,'1=,9.'
distance
of 5000 stadia, thought today to be equivalent to about 805 km or 500 miles.
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circumference of the Earth could be found by using the following proportionality:
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Y:$'4+<2++6
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the answer sheet, calculate what Eratosthenes would have gotten for his answer.
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1
Astronomers
had considerably more political clout in those days!
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'
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What value for the circumference of the Earth would Eratosthenes have determined from his
measurements? What value for the radius of the Earth corresponds to this circumference?
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Your turn: Imagine that you have friends living in Mazatlan who have noticed that each year on the
summer solstice the rays of the Sun fall straight down their water well. You now live in Denver in a
small house on a productive wheat far. In the middle of one of the access roads sits an ancient obelisk.
After hearing from your friends last year, you decide to test the ways of the ancient Greek astronomers
yourself. You know that the longitude of the two places is only slightly different, and that by measuring
the shadow of the obelisk in Denver at the same time the Sun is at the zenith in Mazatlan, you will be
able to calculate the radius of the Earth. You all get on your cell phones as the precise time of the
summer solstice approaches. You click a picture of the obelisk at exactly the right moment. Your image
is shown below.
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Using a similar triangles construction like the one shown below,
we can directly determine the radius of
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the Earth. The radius of the Earth is to the height of the obelisk as the distance between Denver and
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Mazatlan is to the length of the shadow.
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12/19/11
cp03a_distance_sun.pages
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Finding the ratio for the right-hand side of this
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equation
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012./:'M/+'B+3<./',-'./+'6/14,D')6'.,'./+'
Using a ruler, measure the length of the shadow and
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the height of the obelisk. Find the ratio of these two
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measurements, as shown in the equation. Fill in that
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What is the significance of the 2nd assumption? Compare the left hand image just above -- how the
shadow of the Earth really falls upon the Moon (exaggerated) -- versus that implied by the Sun being
infinitely far away. What is the shape of the umbra of the Earths shadow on the left versus that on the
right? Would the assumption of a cylindrical shadow (the one on the right) lead to your calculating the
Moons diameter larger or smaller than it actually ? These are not easy questions to answer!
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The above assumption of an infinitely distant Sun will give us a crude estimate of the relative size of the
Moon to the Earth by looking at the curvature of the Earths shadow during a lunar eclipse. This
measurement is not without its difficulties and uncertainties, however. The main reason being that the
Sun is not infinitely far away, and the Moon does not always pass through the middle of the Earths
shadow during a lunar eclipse. In addition, you will not be certain as to whether you are measuring the
curvature of the umbra or that of the penumbra.
Here is the Moon just coming out of a total eclipse. You should be able to detect the curvature in the
Earths shadow. Use that curvature as a small arc in the total circular shadow being cast, and complete
the circle by using an appropriately sized protractor, paper plate, or whatever fits the arc.
You now have an approximation of the ratio of the radius of the Moon to the radius of the Earth by
finding the ratio of the measured radius of the Moon on the image and the measured radius of the circle
you drew.
Use the radius of the Earth that you determined from Rung 1 of this exercise to find the radius of the
Moon in kilometers, working with the ratio you just found. Then, once we have the radius in kilometers
of the Moon that you just measured, we can easily determine the distance to the Moon by measuring its
angular diameter on the sky. The full angle subtended on the sky by the full Moon is about 0.5 degrees,
making the angle subtended by half of it (to use the radius value) is 0.25 degrees. Calculate the distance
to the Moon using its angular radius (0.25 deg) and the radius you calculated. Heres the geometry:
This new model and its use in determining the distance to the Sun can be better understood by studying
the following diagram:
12/19/11
cp03a_distance_sun.pages
When the Moon is seen to be exactly in the first-quarter phase, the Sun-Earth-Moon angle is a right or
90-degree angle. If we can measure the angle between the Sun and the Moon when the Moon is
precisely at its first- or third-quarter phase, then we can determine the distance to the Sun. With precise
observations made at first-quarter lunar phase, an Earth-Moon-Sun angle of 89.853 degrees is measured.
How hard to you think it would
be to determine the precise
moment that the Moon is in its
first-quarter or third-quarter
phase?
Since we now know the
distance from the Earth to the
Moon from Rung 2, we can
use that information plus the
measured 89.853 degree angle
to determine the length of the
hypotenuse of the right-angle
triangle and get the distance to
the Sun.
Almost there! Now that we have an estimate for the distance to the Sun, it is also possible to determine
the diameter of the Sun in kilometers. We know that the angular diameter of the Sun is almost the same
as the Moon, about 0.5 degrees on the sky. Since obtaining the angular diameter of the Sun directly
would be inaccurate and may make us go blind, we will use the fact that the Moon eclipses the Sun
every so often. Here is the progression of a total eclipse of the Sun as evidence:
Using the distance to the Sun determined above and the angular radius of the Sun, determine the actual
radius of the Sun (your value) in kilometers. You should recall the way in which you calculated the
distance to the Moon from an estimate of its radius in kilometers, and just adjust the equation
accordingly. You know the angle, , you know D, now find r using a bit of algebraic manipulation.
Summary
As you wrap up your results for this exercise, check the actual quantities listed in the table on your
answer sheet and calculate the percentage error for each value. Fill out the answer sheet completely and
follow the directions given by your instructor in submitting this assignment. We hope you enjoyed
stepping up these first few steps. The average distance between the Earth and the Sun is called the
Astronomical Unit. It was the knowledge of this number that led the way to all of the rest of the steps
that eventually took us to an estimate of the distance to the edge of the visible universe!
12/19/11
cp03a_distance_sun.pages
+-.%!3-%%
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This exercise
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starts us on the road to using the language of the Universe to describe it. Here is a brief
refresher course.
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Working with ratios: Finding the ratio of two numbers means dividing one by the other. When we
know that one ratio will be proportional to another ratio, and we know the values of three of the
numbers, it makes finding the unknown fourth number easy.
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A simple example:
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+'134'./+'G3,D3'>1B9+6'12+'1BB',3'
Trigonometry: The hardest part any more about working with trig is knowing which buttons to push on
the calculator. Heres a refresher for sine, cosine, and tangent of an angle for a right-angle triangle. The
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angle we are working with is designated by the Greek letter alpha. The triangle has side lengths A, B,
and hypotenuse C.
Sin () = opposite/hypotenuse or A/C
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Cos() =
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adjacent/hypotenuse or B/C
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