Assignment 5 Answers – Flashcards
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Which planet by itself contains the majority of mass of all the planets?
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Jupiter
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What is the goal of comparative planetology?
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to determine the origin and evolution of the solar system
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What is true about solar system densities?
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The denser planets lie closer to the Sun.
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The average density of each planet in the solar system is determined by taking its mass and dividing that by its
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volume
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The rotation periods of Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are difficult to determine because
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their surface features are obscured by their atmospheres
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The plane in which almost all planets orbit the sun is called the:
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ecliptic.
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Which statement about the motion of the planets is incorrect?
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Most planets move in the Earth's equatorial plane.
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Mercury's most unusual orbital feature, as compared to the other planets, is
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the shape of its orbit
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What aspects of the planets orbits are nearly the same for most planets?
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shape and tilt from the ecliptic
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Planetary orbits
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are almost circular, with low eccentricities.
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How do the densities of the jovian and terrestrial planets compare?
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All terrestrials are more dense than any of the jovians.
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Which of the following are the Jovian planets?
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Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune only
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In composition and mass and density, Jupiter is most like:
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the sun
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Which characteristic listed below describes the jovian planets?
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low density
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Which of the characteristics below describes the terrestrial planets?
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possessing weak magnetic fields
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The jovian planets
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all have rings around their equators.
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Most asteroids are found:
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between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
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The Kuiper Belt is found where in the solar system?
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beyond the orbit of Neptune
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In composition and density, the asteroids most resemble:
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pieces of terrestrial planets.
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The difference between a meteoroid and an asteroid is the object's
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size
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The Kuiper Belt is an "outer asteroid belt" consisting of what types of solar system bodies?
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icy cometlike bodies
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Which of the following have an icy composition?
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comets
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A meteorite is
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a chunk of space debris that has struck the ground.
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Objects in the Kuiper belt
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lie beyond the orbit of Neptune, and close to the ecliptic.
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Which of the following is considered "interplanetary matter"?
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Comet Hale-Bopp
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The jovian planets are thought to have formed as gravity drew hydrogen and helium gas around planetesimals made of __________.
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rocks, metals, and ices
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As the solar nebula contracts due to gravitation, the cloud
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spins faster.
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What is the role of irregularities in the solar system in terms of theories of its origin?
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They introduce a need for flexibility in theories of the solar system's origin.
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What might have made the original solar nebula begin to contract?
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the shock wave from a nearby exploding star
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A successful theory of the formation of the solar system must explain
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all observed properties of the solar system.
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What happens when a solar nebula contracts?
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it flattens out, it spins faster, it heats up
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In light of modern solar system theory, why do the orbits of the planets all lie in the same plane?
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The early solar nebula flattened into a disk.
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What is the process of accretion?
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growth of an object by the accumulation of matter
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Conservation of angular momentum means that a spinning body tends to
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keep spinning
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A meteorite is
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a chunk of space debris that has struck the ground.
