Home » Science Projects » Science Project on “Phases of The Moon”, Project Experiment Topics on Outer Space for Class 8, 9, 10 and 12 Students.

Science Project on “Phases of The Moon”, Project Experiment Topics on Outer Space for Class 8, 9, 10 and 12 Students.

Phases of The Moon

Materials Required:

  1. Modeling clay
  2. A cardboard paper towel roll
  3. A clear evening and a full moon night
  4. Moon timetable
  5. A table
  6. A watch
  7. A cardboard measuring about one square foot
  8. Pencil and paper

The moon is constantly moving in the sky, taking a time of about 27.33 days to make one whole journey around the earth. It should also be remembered that it is just not the earth’s rotation which moves the moon, but also the moon’s own revolution around the earth.

From an almanac or a newspaper, determine when the moon will again return to its full-moon status in the future.

Take a window from where you can make a clear observation of the moon on that day. Remember to place a table by that window. Cover the table-top with a cardboard, in order to keep it clean.

Take your modeling clay and stick the cardboard paper towel roll in such a manner, so that you can see through it.

Once the moon is out, keep looking through the tube, to find out when the moon reaches the center of the pipe. Try and mould the clay in such a manner that the tube can rest there, without anyone having to hold it. Once the moon is at the center of the tube, measure down the time in your watch.

Next night, at the same time, again look into your tube to see if the moon is in the center of the pipe. Keep repeating this experiment for many nights, at the same time and keep noting the position of the moon through the pipe. This will be the result of your experiment.

Waxing and Waning of The Moon

If we watch the Moon for a month, we would see that it keeps changing its shape, sometimes it is a full circle and then on occasions it is just a semicircle. The changing of the Moon’s shape is called waxing and waning. The light that we get from the Moon at night is not its own, it is in fact acting only as a reflector of the Sun’s light. When the Moon is rotating on its axis only half of its hemisphere is exposed to the Sun and the other half is in darkness.

The Moon rotates on its axis at almost the same speed at which it revolves around the Earth. As the Moon revolves around the Earth we see, at different angles, various portions of its hemisphere which is exposed to the Sun and the dark side is not visible to us. This is what gives us the feeling that the Moon is changing its size and shape.

An increase in the size of the Moon’s illuminated surface is termed as waxing and a reductionin its size is called waning, as shown in the illustration. There are nights when the Moon is not visible at all, these are New Moon nights, the nights when it can be seen as a full circle are called Full Moon nights. On a Full Moon night the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon, though not at an angle to cause an eclipse that is why we are able to see the entire hemisphere of the Moon reflecting the Sun’s rays.

On a New Moon night we see the dark hemisphere of the Moon since the other side is facing the Sun. One complete cycle of the Moon’s waxing and waning takes 29.5 days.

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