I am doing a 3rd grade science project on the Sun. I have to create a "visual". I want to compare the size of the earth to the size of the sun. I found that you could put 1,000,000 earths inside the Sun.

I would like to fill a container [representing the Sun] with something like M&M's or cereal like Trix.
I found that the diameter of Trix is 6/8", am I correct that I would need a 300 gallon container?
Can anyone think of any other small piece of candy that would be a good representation of the Earth which wouldn't require a 300 gallon container?

How about peppercorns, each with a diameter of about 1/8 inch?

How about shredded paper?

Grains of rice?

what about nerds

the candy nerds

To compare the size of the Earth to the size of the Sun, you have correctly determined that you could fit around 1,000,000 Earths within the Sun. Now, let's calculate the size of the container you would need if you use Trix cereal.

First, let's find the size of the Sun. The diameter of the Sun is about 1,391,000 kilometers (865,000 miles). For simplicity, let's assume the diameter of the Sun is 865,000 miles.

Now, let's find the size of the Earth compared to the Sun. The diameter of the Earth is about 7,917.5 miles.

To visualize this scale, you can divide the diameter of the Sun by the diameter of the Earth:
865,000 miles / 7,917.5 miles = 109.28

This means that the Sun's diameter is approximately 109.28 times larger than Earth's diameter.

If you want to represent the Sun using a container filled with Trix cereal, which has a diameter of 6/8 inches, you would need to scale up the dimensions accordingly.

The diameter of the Sun would be 109.28 times the diameter of the Earth, so:
7,917.5 miles * 109.28 = 864,948.6 miles

Now, convert the Sun's diameter into inches:
864,948.6 miles * 63,360 inches/mile = 54,858,721,216 inches

To compare this with the diameter of Trix cereal, divide the Sun's diameter by the diameter of Trix cereal:
54,858,721,216 inches / (6/8) inches = 73,145,095,621 Trix cereal pieces

So, you would need approximately 73,145,095,621 pieces of Trix cereal to represent the size of the Sun using a container.

As for representing the Earth, you can choose a smaller piece of candy that is proportionate to the size of the Trix cereal compared to the Sun. For example, you could use M&M's or Skittles as they are smaller and can be easily compared to the Trix cereal.

Remember, these calculations are just estimates and can vary depending on the specific sizes and dimensions you use for the candies and the container.