What makes the pull of gravity stronger or weaker

Grade 6 Science Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Table (NASA Planetary Fact Sheet), NASA values, with columns Planet, Mass (10²⁴ kg), Diameter (km) and Gravity (m/s²)

   Earth, mass 5.97 (×10²⁴ kg), diameter 12,756 km, gravity 9.8 m/s²; Saturn, mass 568 (×10²⁴ kg), diameter 120,536 km, gravity 9.0 m/s².

2. 1.

   Saturn has about 95 times Earth's mass, yet its gravity at the cloud tops is a little less than Earth's. Why, by Bo's reasoning?

   • Saturn should have about 95 times Earth's gravity
   • Mass does not affect gravity
   • Saturn is so wide that its cloud tops are far from its center
   • Gas planets have no gravity

3. Table (NASA Planetary Fact Sheet), NASA values, with columns Planet, Mass (10²⁴ kg), Diameter (km) and Gravity (m/s²)

   Mercury, mass 0.330 (×10²⁴ kg), diameter 4,879 km, gravity 3.7 m/s²; Mars, mass 0.642 (×10²⁴ kg), diameter 6,792 km, gravity 3.7 m/s².

4. 2.

   Mercury and Mars both have surface gravity of 3.7 m/s², but Mars has about twice Mercury's mass. How can that be, says Esme?

   • Mercury is closer to the Sun, so it gains gravity
   • The two planets must have the same mass
   • Mars is wider, so its surface is farther from its center
   • Mass makes no difference to gravity
5. 3.

   Earth, gravity 9.8 m/s², diameter 12,756 km; Jupiter, gravity 23.1 m/s², diameter 142,984 km. Jupiter has about 318 times Earth's mass. Using the NASA table, about how many times Earth's gravity does it have at its cloud tops, by Jun's math?

   • About 318 times, to match its mass
   • About 2.4 times
   • About the same as Earth's
   • Less than Earth's

6. Table (NASA Planetary Fact Sheet), with columns World and Gravity, m/s², surface gravity in m/s²

   Earth 9.8; Moon 1.6; Mars 3.7.

7. 4.

   Kira's backpack weighs 12 lb on Earth. Using the NASA table, about how much would it weigh on the Moon?

   • About 12 lb, the same as on Earth
   • About 2 lb
   • 0 lb, since the Moon has no gravity
   • About 72 lb, six times more
8. 5.

   About how much would the same 12 lb backpack weigh on Mars, using the NASA table, by Luz's math?

   • 0 lb, since Mars is so far from Earth
   • About 12 lb, since mass doesn't change
   • About 32 lb
   • About 4.5 lb
9. 6.

   NASA's Curiosity rover has a mass of about 900 kg. On Mars, what is its mass, by Milo's reasoning?

   • More, because of the red dust
   • Still about 900 kg
   • 0 kg, since it is out in space
   • About 340 kg, since Mars's gravity is weaker
10. 7.

    The station above Earth with its sideways motion arrow crossed out and a pull arrow toward Earth. If the space station somehow stopped moving sideways, what would Earth's gravity do to it, as Ren predicts?

    • Pull it down toward Earth
    • Hold it perfectly still in place
    • Nothing; there is no gravity up there
    • Push it farther away
11. 8.

    On the airless Moon in 1971, Apollo 15 astronaut David Scott dropped a hammer and a feather together. What happened, as Tala reads from NASA?

    • They landed at the same time
    • Neither fell, since the Moon has no gravity
    • The feather floated away
    • The hammer landed first, since it is heavier
12. 9.

    Zee drops a crumpled paper ball and a flat sheet of the same paper at the same time. The ball lands first. Why?

    • Air slows the flat sheet more
    • Gravity pulls flat things less
    • The ball has more mass
    • The flat sheet has no weight

13. Use this

    Drawing of a sealed chamber labeled "no air" with a bowling ball and a tennis ball held at the same height.

14. 10.

    In a room with all the air pumped out, a bowling ball and a tennis ball are dropped together. How do they land, by Ari's prediction?

    • Neither falls, since there is no air
    • At the same time
    • The tennis ball first, since it is lighter
    • The bowling ball first, since it is heavier