The Phases of the Moon Lab - John Bowne High School



The Phases of the Moon Lab

Objective: To determine the lunar phases relative to the Moon’s position in orbit around the Earth.

Introduction:

The sequential changes in the appearance of the Moon are called lunar phases. The length of time it takes for the Moon to go through a complete cycle of phases is called a synodic (or lunar) month.

The length of a synodic month is about 29.5 days, which is longer than the 27.3 days it takes for one revolution (sidereal month), or orbit, around Earth.

Synchronous rotation

synchronous rotation describes a body orbiting another, where the orbiting body takes as long to rotate on its axis as it does to make one orbit; and therefore always keeps the same hemisphere pointed at the body it is orbiting.

As the Moon orbits Earth, the same side faces Earth at all times because the Moon has a synchronous rotation, spinning exactly once each time it goes around Earth.

Procedure:

▪ Show how the moon would look like from the Earth at each position, by shading in the dark part in the diagram section.

▪ Label each of the phases of the moon on the diagrams below.

▪ Use the definitions given and the phases of the moon diagrams to assist in completing the drawings

▪ Answer all questions in the Observation section.

Figure 1

Label the Moon Phases Diagram

Read the definitions, then label the moon phases diagram below.

| |

|Definitions |

| |

|Crescent Moon - when we can see only a sliver of the moon's disk (the|New Moon - when the moon's disk is dark (and invisible to us) because|

|side of the moon facing us)  |the moon is between the sun and the Earth  |

|Full Moon - when the moon's disk is light because the Earth is |Quarter Moon - (also called half moon) when we can see one half of |

|between the sun and the moon  |the moon's disk (this is one-quarter of the entire moon's surface)  |

|Gibbous Moon - when we can see roughly three-quarters of the moon's |Waning Moon - when the moon seems to be getting smaller, going from |

|disk  |full to gibbous to half to crescent to new  |

|Half Moon - (also called quarter moon) when we can see one half of |Waxing Moon - when the moon seems to be getting bigger, going from |

|the moon's disk (this is one-quarter of the entire moon's surface)  |new to crescent to half to gibbous to full  |

Observations:

1. Identify those phases in figure 1 that are waxing and waning?

Waxing Waning

2. Which side is lit when the Moon is waxing or getting larger? ______________________

3. During which lunar phases do we see only 50% of the Moon lit?_________________

4. How long is a synodic month? ______________________________________________

5. Why is there a difference between a synodic month and a sidereal month? _______________________________________________________________________

6. What phase is the Moon when it is highest at solar noon? _________________________

7. Why do we always see the same side of the moon? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. In what phase must the moon be in for a lunar eclipse to occur? ________________________________________________________________________

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