Earth Science

Earth Science Survey
The Solar System: HW #1
January 28, 2009

a. If you wanted to make a scaled model of the Solar System with the Earth being
one inch in diameter how big would the Sun be? (answer in both inches and feet)
If the Earth was one inch in diameter that would make the Sun 109.24 inches (9ft 1 in).

b. What is the composition of the largest planet in the Solar System?
Jupiter is composed of 90% hydrogen and 10% helium with methane, water, ammonia and “rock”.   Jupiter has a core of rocky material that is estimate to be about 10-15 times Earth masses.   This core is on the main bulk of the planet in the form of liquid metallic hydrogen.

c. What is the density of the closest planet to the Sun and how does it compare to the
Earth’s density?
Mercury is very old and its surface is heavily cratered similar to the Moon.   But Mercury is much denser with 5.43 gm/cm3 which makes it the second densest in the solar system behind Earth. Earth’s density is due to gravitational compression. Mercury’s iron core is larger than Earth’s and comprising the majority of the planet.

d. What are planetary rings composed of and which of the planets have them?
Saturn’s ring particles seem to be composed primarily of water ice, but they may also include rocky particles with icy coatings. Jupiter’s rings are composed of very small grains of rocky material but unlike Saturn’s rings, they seem to contain no ice. Uranus rings are composed of large particles ranging up to 10 meters in diameter in addition to fine dust. Neptune’s rings are dark but their composition is unknown.

e. Which of the planets below show evidence of volcanic activity sometime in its past
and which planets are still volcanically active?
Mercury and Mars show evidence of volcanic activity in its past. Venus and Earth are planets that are still volcanically active.

f. Which of the terrestrial planets has an atmosphere composed of CO2 and what
effecthas that had on the planet?...