The realities of nature are really a thing of beauty. Be it the wonderful Sun or the beautiful Moon and everything in between and beyond. And there is a brigade of scientists and students who are unearthing these realities about the Earth and the Universe everyday. Many spend better parts of a year on a single topic while some toil for decades together. All these hard working people have one thing in common --- they are trying their best to expand the horizons of our knowledge. They are helping us understand things that we do not today, but will do tomorrow.
People often are fascinated by what we will know tomorrow --- the future. What will we be able to find out the day after tomorrow. Is there more to the Higgs Boson?(And no, it is not the "God Particle"). What about singularity? How many new life forms will we find at the bottom of the oceans? and many many more such quandaries. I am almost certain that we will answer all these lingering questions and in the process ask many more to be answered. But there are many facts which we do know, and can be equally mesmerizing, if not more. That brings us to today to --- Percent factor.
How big do you think our mighty mother Earth is? Pretty big huh?. Of course, if you compare it with us humans its pretty big. What about when compared to the moon? --- Still pretty big. Now, what about when compared to our own Sun? What do you think?. You are likely to think, "I already know it. The Sun is big and the Earth not so much". And you would be correct too. I did the same when I first thought about it. But then I asked myself one more question, "By how much?". Lets explore.
Lets take the mass of the most commonly known objects in our solar system, namely the gas star we call the Sun, and the planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon(our satellite), Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto(which used to be a planet but not anymore). Now lets say, we add the masses together of all the objects and lets say that we choose to call it a unit of 100. For convenience sake, lets choose to ignore the gorgeous asteroid belt(the region between Mars and Jupiter) and also ignore all other objects in the Solar system, including but not limited to the Moons of all other planets and the beautiful rings of Saturn.
So the mass of the Sun and that of all other objects combined is 100, say. Now how much do you think does the Earth contribute to it? How much does each individual object contribute?. I may remind you that the Sun is made of just gas and so are the outer planets(Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune). The rocky ones are the inner ones(Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars). So now take a moment and think again. How much do you think does the Earth contribute to the total mass. 5% or 16% or 28% or perhaps 56%?
The answer is: It depends. Not because we don't know it, but because it varies as the decimals in the answer, as will be clear shortly. If you choose 2 decimals the answer is vastly different than if you choose 5 decimals. Below is the explanation.
When our results are just one decimal, everything appears to contribute 0% (other than Jupiter which is a meager 0.1%). Earth's contribution appear only after we expand the results to show 5 decimals.
Only when you get the calculation to show 7 decimals you see the numbers for pluto. It is that small.
I love these numbers. Not because it is an great exercise in mathematics or percentage, but because it reveals a very profound reality. A profound reality about our own existence. One that should make us humble. And that reality is that we, Humans, are extremely insignificant in comparison with the Solar system, let alone the universe. We should ponder about this fact for just a little bit and then maybe we would realize that not all the things we fight about, worry about, are really important in the larger picture. That we are NOT the center of the universe.
Next time you are outside take a moment to look up --- watch the beautiful clouds, the Sun, the Moon and the stars and --- Enjoy.
Thanks for reading.
Till next time
Sushant
People often are fascinated by what we will know tomorrow --- the future. What will we be able to find out the day after tomorrow. Is there more to the Higgs Boson?(And no, it is not the "God Particle"). What about singularity? How many new life forms will we find at the bottom of the oceans? and many many more such quandaries. I am almost certain that we will answer all these lingering questions and in the process ask many more to be answered. But there are many facts which we do know, and can be equally mesmerizing, if not more. That brings us to today to --- Percent factor.
How big do you think our mighty mother Earth is? Pretty big huh?. Of course, if you compare it with us humans its pretty big. What about when compared to the moon? --- Still pretty big. Now, what about when compared to our own Sun? What do you think?. You are likely to think, "I already know it. The Sun is big and the Earth not so much". And you would be correct too. I did the same when I first thought about it. But then I asked myself one more question, "By how much?". Lets explore.
Lets take the mass of the most commonly known objects in our solar system, namely the gas star we call the Sun, and the planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon(our satellite), Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto(which used to be a planet but not anymore). Now lets say, we add the masses together of all the objects and lets say that we choose to call it a unit of 100. For convenience sake, lets choose to ignore the gorgeous asteroid belt(the region between Mars and Jupiter) and also ignore all other objects in the Solar system, including but not limited to the Moons of all other planets and the beautiful rings of Saturn.
So the mass of the Sun and that of all other objects combined is 100, say. Now how much do you think does the Earth contribute to it? How much does each individual object contribute?. I may remind you that the Sun is made of just gas and so are the outer planets(Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune). The rocky ones are the inner ones(Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars). So now take a moment and think again. How much do you think does the Earth contribute to the total mass. 5% or 16% or 28% or perhaps 56%?
The answer is: It depends. Not because we don't know it, but because it varies as the decimals in the answer, as will be clear shortly. If you choose 2 decimals the answer is vastly different than if you choose 5 decimals. Below is the explanation.
| Sr No | Object | Mass in kg | Percent of Total Mass | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Decimal | 2 Decimals | 5 Decimals | 7 Decimals | |||
| 1 | Sun | 1.99E+30 | 99.9% | 99.87% | 99.86604% | 99.8660386% |
| 2 | Jupiter | 1.90E+27 | 0.1% | 0.10% | 0.09532% | 0.0953223% |
| 3 | Saturn | 5.68E+26 | 0.0% | 0.03% | 0.02854% | 0.0285405% |
| 4 | Neptune | 1.02E+26 | 0.0% | 0.01% | 0.00514% | 0.0051427% |
| 5 | Uranus | 8.68E+25 | 0.0% | 0.00% | 0.00436% | 0.0043584% |
| 6 | Earth | 5.97E+24 | 0.0% | 0.00% | 0.00030% | 0.0002999% |
| 7 | Venus | 4.87E+24 | 0.0% | 0.00% | 0.00024% | 0.0002444% |
| 8 | Mars | 6.42E+23 | 0.0% | 0.00% | 0.00003% | 0.0000322% |
| 9 | Mercury | 3.30E+23 | 0.0% | 0.00% | 0.00002% | 0.0000166% |
| 10 | Moon | 7.35E+22 | 0.0% | 0.00% | 0.00000% | 0.0000037% |
| 11 | Pluto | 1.25E+22 | 0.0% | 0.00% | 0.00000% | 0.0000006% |
| 12 | Total Mass | 1.99E+30 | ||||
When our results are just one decimal, everything appears to contribute 0% (other than Jupiter which is a meager 0.1%). Earth's contribution appear only after we expand the results to show 5 decimals.
Only when you get the calculation to show 7 decimals you see the numbers for pluto. It is that small.
I love these numbers. Not because it is an great exercise in mathematics or percentage, but because it reveals a very profound reality. A profound reality about our own existence. One that should make us humble. And that reality is that we, Humans, are extremely insignificant in comparison with the Solar system, let alone the universe. We should ponder about this fact for just a little bit and then maybe we would realize that not all the things we fight about, worry about, are really important in the larger picture. That we are NOT the center of the universe.
Next time you are outside take a moment to look up --- watch the beautiful clouds, the Sun, the Moon and the stars and --- Enjoy.
Thanks for reading.
Till next time
Sushant
Very interesting.
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