Capter 10: Planet Formation, Cores to Atmospheres

Question 1

What are the terrestrial planets in our solar system?

Answer 1

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

Question 2

What are the Jovian planets in our solar system?

Answer 2

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Question 3

What separates the terrestrial and Jovian planets?

Answer 3

The asteroid belt

Question 4

What is the Kuiper Belt composed of?

Answer 4

Icy bodies and comets beyond Neptune

Question 5

What is the Oort Cloud?

Answer 5

A distant spherical cloud of comets surrounding the solar system

Question 6

What is Mercury’s atmosphere composed of?

Answer 6

Mercury has no atmosphere

Question 7

What dominates Venus’s atmosphere?

Answer 7

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) and nitrogen (N₂)

Question 8

What is unique about Earth’s atmosphere?

Answer 8

It is composed of molecular nitrogen (N₂) and oxygen (O₂)

Question 9

What are the primary gases in Mars’s atmosphere?

Answer 9

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) and nitrogen (N₂)

Question 10

Which planet has the highest density among the terrestrial planets?

Answer 10

Earth

Question 11

What gases dominate the atmospheres of Jovian planets?

Answer 11

Hydrogen (H₂) and helium (He)

Question 12

Which Jovian planet has the largest mass?

Answer 12

Jupiter

Question 13

How is helium unique in the context of planetary atmospheres?

Answer 13

Helium is chemically inert and does not contribute to planetary core formation

Question 14

Approximately how old is the solar system?

Answer 14

4.6 billion years

Question 15

What triggered the collapse of the solar nebula?

Answer 15

Gravitational energy and conservation of angular momentum

Question 16

What percentage of the solar system’s mass is contained in the Sun?

Answer 16

99.8%

Question 17

Where is most of the angular momentum in the solar system located?

Answer 17

In the rotation and revolution of the Jovian planets

Question 18

What process clears excess angular momentum from the Sun’s disk?

Answer 18

Solar winds and magnetic field interactions

Question 19

What are planetesimals?

Answer 19

Small rocky or icy bodies that coalesced to form planets

Question 20

At what distance from the Sun does the “snowline” occur?

Answer 20

Approximately 2 AU

Question 21

What materials dominate terrestrial planet formation?

Answer 21

Heavy elements like iron, nickel, and silicates

Question 22

What enabled Jovian planets to accrete massive atmospheres?

Answer 22

Their gravitational pull and proximity to the gaseous outer disk

Question 23

What theory explains Jupiter’s migration during the solar system’s formation?

Answer 23

The Grand Tack Model

Question 24

How was water delivered to the terrestrial planets?

Answer 24

By icy planetesimals from the outer solar system

Question 25

What role did Jupiter play in delivering icy planetesimals?

Answer 25

Its migration scattered icy planetesimals toward the terrestrial region

Question 26

What primary gases formed Earth's early atmosphere?

Answer 26

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water vapor (H₂O)

Question 27

When did Earth's oceans begin to form?

Answer 27

Between 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago

Question 28

What is the Late Heavy Bombardment?

Answer 28

A period of frequent impacts from asteroids and comets

Question 29

What did the Late Heavy Bombardment contribute to Earth?

Answer 29

Additional water and volatile elements

Question 30

Why is Venus unable to retain large oceans like Earth?

Answer 30

Its high atmospheric pressure and proximity to the Sun

Question 31

What is the average temperature on Mercury?

Answer 31

676°F

Question 32

What materials dominate the asteroid belt?

Answer 32

Iron, nickel, rock, and some silicates

Question 33

What percentage of Earth's mass is nitrogen and oxygen?

Answer 33

A majority of the atmospheric composition

Question 34

How do comets differ in the Kuiper Belt versus the Oort Cloud?

Answer 34

Kuiper Belt comets have more water and volatile ices

Question 35

What are Jovian planets?

Answer 35

Gas giants composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, located beyond the asteroid belt.

Question 36

What is the Kuiper Belt?

Answer 36

A region of icy bodies and dwarf planets beyond Neptune's orbit.

Question 37

What is the importance of the Oort Cloud?

Answer 37

It is a reservoir of comets that may influence the inner solar system and provide clues about solar system formation.

Question 38

Why does Earth have the highest density among the terrestrial planets? What does that mean?

Answer 38

Earth’s core is rich in heavy elements like iron and nickel, making it denser. High density means Earth has more mass per unit volume.

Question 39

What is the solar nebula?

Answer 39

A massive cloud of gas and dust from which the Sun and planets formed.

Question 40

What is angular momentum?

Answer 40

A physical property related to an object's mass, velocity, and distance from a rotation axis, influencing rotational stability.

Question 41

What is the "snowline"?

Answer 41

The distance from the Sun where temperatures are low enough for volatile compounds, like water, to condense into ice.

Question 42

What are AUs?

Answer 42

Astronomical Units, a measure of distance in space, where 1 AU equals the average distance between Earth and the Sun (~93 million miles).

Question 43

What are icy planetesimals from the outer solar system?

Answer 43

Small, icy bodies made of water, carbon dioxide, and other volatiles that contributed to the formation of atmospheres and oceans on terrestrial planets.

Question 44

When was the Late Heavy Bombardment?

Answer 44

Approximately 4 billion years ago.

Question 45

How does Venus's high atmospheric pressure and proximity to the Sun prevent it from having oceans?

Answer 45

High pressure and intense heat cause water to exist only as vapor, preventing the formation of liquid oceans.

Question 46

stages of solar systme development

Answer 46