Deck 12: The Origin of the Solar System

Question 1

Where are the satellites discovered by Galileo located?

A)They orbit the terrestrial planets.
B)They orbit the planet Jupiter.
C)They orbit asteroids.
D)They orbit Mars.

Answer 1

They orbit the planet Jupiter.

Question 2

What is accretion?

A)the adding of material to an object an atom or molecule at a time
B)the adding of material to an object by collection of solid particles
C)the release of gas from rocks as they are heated
D)the removal of material from asteroids by the bombardment of the solar wind

Answer 2

the adding of material to an object by collection of solid particles

Question 3

What is an extrasolar planet?

A)a planet that orbits our Sun that we have not yet discovered
B)a planet found orbiting around a star other than the Sun
C)a planet just outside the edge of the solar system
D)a planet just outside the surface of our Sun

Answer 3

a planet found orbiting around a star other than the Sun

Question 4

What is "the Jovian problem"?

A)the high speed at which the Jovian planets rotate on their axes and the consequent flattening of their shapes
B)the existence of rings around the Jovian planets
C)the excess heat radiated by the larger of the Jovian planets
D)the apparently short period of time that disks exist around stars from which Jovian planets can form

Question 5

What is the term for the separation of material in a newly formed planet or asteroid according to density?

A)precipitation
B)differentiation
C)condensation
D)sublimation

Question 6

After the first solid grains formed in our solar system,by what process were these particles then able to grow?

A)sublimation
B)accretion
C)hydration
D)condensation

Question 7

What kind of objects are located beyond the asteroid belt (3 AU from the Sun),and have extremely large masses with very low densities?

A)comets
B)asteroids
C)terrestrial planets
D)Jovian planets

Question 8

Which of the following is a solar system object that enters the Earth's atmosphere,becomes very hot due to friction between the object and the Earth's atmosphere,and does not survive to reach the surface?

A)asteroid
B)meteor
C)comet
D)meteoroid

Question 9

What pushed gas and dust particles out of the solar nebula?

A)the solar wind
B)outgassing
C)the Sun's magnetic field
D)differentiation

Question 10

The iron in our solar system was created from smaller mass atomic nuclei.Where did those nuclei come from?

A)our Sun
B)Jupiter
C)the Big Bang
D)supernovae

Question 11

How did protoplanets develop?

A)They grew in size primarily by accretion.
B)They grew in size primarily by condensation.
C)They grew in size by collecting the particles in the solar wind.
D)They grew in size by the collision and coalescing of planetesimals.

Question 12

Which one of the following is a characteristic of terrestrial planets?

A)high average density
B)orbits outside the asteroid belt
C)large diameters
D)many satellites

Question 13

The hydrogen in our solar system was created from subatomic particles.Where did those particles come from?

A)our Sun
B)Jupiter
C)the Big Bang
D)supernovae

Question 14

What is outgassing?

A)the adding of material to an object an atom or molecule at a time
B)the adding of material to an object by collection of solid particles
C)the release of gas from rocks as they are heated
D)the removal of hydrogen via nuclear fusion

Question 15

Sort the following materials from highest to lowest condensation temperature: iron,rock,water ice.

A)water ice; rock; iron
B)rock; iron; water ice
C)water ice; iron; rock
D)iron; rock; water ice

Question 16

Approximately how old are the oldest rocks found on Earth?

A)14 billion years old
B)10.5 billion years old
C)7.0 billion years old
D)4.4 billion years old

Question 17

What is one cause of a newly formed planet or large asteroid becoming molten?

A)sublimation
B)decay of radioactive element isotopes
C)differentiation
D)ignition of hydrogen fusion

Question 18

Which one of the following is a characteristic of Jovian planets?

A)orbits inside the asteroids
B)low average density
C)craters in old surfaces
D)very few satellites

Question 19

By what process did the first small solid grains or flakes form in our solar system?

A)accretion
B)sublimation
C)hydration
D)condensation

Question 20

A future news release might report that a new planet has been found around a star very similar to our Sun.This newly discovered planet is claimed to have a mass 40 times that of the Earth and is located nearly 25 AU from the star it orbits.Which of the following would be a reasonable prediction about this planet?

A)The planet will probably have about the same radius as the Earth
B)The planet will probably have a mean density of around 5 g/cm³.
C)The planet will probably have a composition that is mostly hydrogen and helium.
D)The planet will probably have liquid water oceans.

Question 21

What could have caused the proto-Jovian planets to grow very hot?

A)heat from the Sun
B)radioactivity of light elements, such as hydrogen and helium
C)the in-falling of material at high velocity
D)collisions with large planetesimals

Question 22

Based on current observations,which of the following has a heavy element core and a very compressed liquid layer and atmosphere,both composed mostly of hydrogen?

A)Jupiter
B)Pluto
C)Venus
D)an asteroid

Question 23

The age of the solar system is believed to be approximately 4.6 billion years.On what data is this estimate based?

A)samples of proto-solar nebula
B)samples of the solar wind
C)crater counts on Earth
D)isotope ratios in meteorites

Question 24

Which one of the following objects is most like the planetesimals that formed in the solar nebula?

A)Vesta
B)Earth
C)Saturn
D)Venus

Question 25

Why was the Tagish Lake meteorite important?

A)It was recovered only days after it fell to Earth.
B)It was the first meteorite recovered in Canada.
C)Signs of life were discovered deep inside it.
D)Its large crater showed that cratering still occurs on Earth.

Question 26

The terrestrial planets are thought to have formed by accreting solid planetesimals,all with about the same composition.What does this mean?

A)They were initially molten, forming an iron core first, then they accreted a silicate crust later.
B)They were initially molten, forming a silicate core first, then they accreted an iron crust later.
C)They were initially collections of solid particles, which melted, then differentiated into a high density iron metal core and low density silicate crust.
D)They were initially collections of solid particles, which melted, then differentiated into a high density silicate core and low density iron metal crust.

Question 27

Why would the larger planetesimals have grown faster than the smaller planetesimals?

A)They were moving faster in their orbits than the smaller planetesimals.
B)Their stronger gravity would pull in more material.
C)There was more material located near them that could be accreted.
D)The smaller planetesimals were covered by a layer of material that was lost during collisions.

Question 28

Which of the following is believed to form part of the current atmosphere of the Earth?

A)the remnants of the original hydrogen and helium gas from the solar nebula attracted by the protoplanet
B)the result of the melting and vaporizing of the glaciers from the last ice age
C)gases that were outgassed from the heated rocks sometime after the planet formed
D)hydrogen and helium from a collision between the Sun and another star

Question 29

According to the condensation sequence,what should condense as solids closest to the Sun?

A)hydrogen and helium
B)metals and metal oxides
C)silicates
D)ices of water, methane, and ammonia

Question 30

What is the main improvement of the Kepler spacecraft compared to other planet-finding methods?

A)Kepler can detect signs of life on planets.
B)Kepler can detect planets outside the Milky Way.
C)Kepler can detect many more planets.
D)Kepler can detect much smaller planets.

Question 31

How is the density different in different interior regions of a terrestrial planet?

A)higher density core and lower density mantle
B)lower density core and higher density mantle
C)there is no way to measure changes in interior density
D)there is no separation according to density

Question 32

The diagram illustrates the radioactive decay of Potassium (⁴⁰K),which has a half-life of 1.3 billion years.If a lunar rock is found that currently contains 5 grams of ⁴⁰K,and it is determined that the sample contained 20 grams when it was formed,how old is the lunar rock?

A)2.6 billion years
B)3.9 billion years
C)5.2 billion years
D)6.5 billion years

Question 33

If a star is found with five planets orbiting it,and a process like that described in the solar nebula theory formed the planets,which of the planets would be expected to have the greatest uncompressed density?

A)the one farthest from the star
B)the one with the greatest mass
C)the one with the greatest radius
D)the one closest to the star

Question 34

Why is 51 Pegasi so important?

A)because it is a pulsar with planets orbiting around it
B)because it is a star with a planet that is known to support intelligent life
C)because it is the largest satellite of Jupiter and is suspected to have liquid oceans
D)because it is the first star similar to our Sun that was found to have a planet orbiting it

Question 35

Select the answer below where the grains are correctly matched with the location where they condensed from the solar nebula.

A)icy grains near the present orbit of Mercury
B)metallic grains near the present orbit of the Earth
C)icy grains beyond the present orbit of Jupiter
D)metallic grains beyond the present orbit of Jupiter

Question 36

Suppose that Mercury grew to its present size in 1 million years,through the accretion of particles averaging 100 g each.On average,how many particles did Mercury capture each second? Note: Mercury has a mass of 3.3×10²³ kg and a radius of 2439 km.

A)about 67 particles per second
B)about 100 million particles per second
C)about 100 billion particles per second
D)about 3.3×10²¹ particles per second

Question 37

How do debris disks and planet-forming disks differ?

A)Debris disks have higher density than planet-forming disks.
B)Debris disks contain larger amounts of gas than planet-forming disks.
C)Debris disks are found around older stars than those with planet-forming disks.
D)Only debris disks are expected to be affected by the gravity of planets within them.

Question 38

Where in our solar system do we find the planet with the greatest uncompressed density?

A)Uncompressed density is greatest for the Jovian planets.
B)Uncompressed density is greatest for the planets closest to the Sun.
C)Uncompressed density is greatest for the planets farthest from the Sun.
D)Uncompressed density is greatest for the planets with the largest mass.

Question 39

The planets all lie in nearly the same plane,resulting in a disk-like structure for the solar system.What is believed to be the reason for this disk-like structure?

A)The solar nebula from which the planets formed collapsed into a disk-like structure.
B)The bipolar flow from the young Sun cleared all material out of the nebula except the material in the disk.
C)Jupiter's gravity was great enough to pull all of the other planets to the plane of its orbit.
D)The Milky Way galaxy from which the planets condensed has a disk-like structure.

Question 40

On a photograph of the Earth's moon,the Moon measures 30 cm in diameter and a small crater measures 0.2 cm.The Moon's physical diameter is 1738 km.What is the physical diameter of the small crater?

A)about 12 km
B)about 120 km
C)about 350 km
D)about 1738 km

Question 41

The description "large somewhat dirty snowball model" fits the physical structure of ____________________.

Question 42

When particles in the solar nebula grew large enough,they stopped growing by accretion and began growing by condensation.

Question 43

The ____________________ of a radioactive substance is the amount of time it takes for the substance to be reduced by half.

Question 44

The adding of material an atom at a time to create a solid grain or flake is the process of ____________________.

Question 45

A planet found orbiting a star other than the Sun is called a(n)____________________ planet.

Question 46

The condensation sequence cannot explain the composition of the terrestrial and Jovian planets.

Question 47

Observations in the infrared have detected dusty nebulae around T Tauri stars.

Question 48

The diagram shows the radioactive decay of cesium (¹³⁵Cs).What is the half-life of ¹³⁵Cs?

Question 49

The present motions of the planets were inherited from the rotation of the solar nebula.

Question 50

How are radioactive materials used to determine the age of an object?

A)Both the amounts of radioactive and decay material are measured. Using these with the radioactive material's half-life, the age can be estimated.
B)The amount of radioactive material is measured. Using this with the radioactive material's half-life, the age can be estimated.
C)The amount of decay material is measured. Using this with the radioactive material's half-life, the age can be estimated.
D)The amount of heat generated by radioactive dating is measured to determine age.

Question 51

How do the Jovian planets compare to the terrestrial planets?

A)They are more dense.
B)They have fewer moons.
C)They have much larger diameters.
D)They are much hotter.

Question 52

The original cloud from which the Sun and planets formed had a composition rich in hydrogen and helium.

Question 53

How is the presence of space debris accounted for by solar system models?

A)Space debris is left over material from the early solar system that never formed into a planet.
B)Space debris was formed when another solar system passed through ours.
C)Space debris is material that existed in our region of space before the Sun formed.
D)Space debris was formed when a planet crashed into the Sun.

Question 54

Which of the following observed characteristics of the solar system is the solar nebula theory able to explain?

A)common direction of rotation of the planets
B)number of satellites of each planet
C)the formation of hydrogen atoms in the solar system from subatomic particles
D)number of planets of each type

Question 55

The asteroid belt is found between the orbits of two planets.What are they?

A)Earth and Mars
B)Mars and Jupiter
C)Jupiter and Saturn
D)Venus and Earth

Question 56

The oldest objects found so far in our solar system are Earth rocks that are 3.9 billion years old.

Question 57

What observation made of other stars seems to suggest that the solar nebula hypothesis is correct?

A)Stars are found to exist more often in binaries than by themselves.
B)Protostars are seen to radiate much of their light at infrared wavelengths.
C)Nearby stars tend to be low mass red dwarfs.
D)Young stars are found to have hot disks that surround them.

Question 58

Outgassing refers to the formation of an atmosphere by the attraction of gases from the surrounding nebula.

Question 59

The Jovian planets have lower average densities than the terrestrial planets.

Question 60

The ____________________ planets have larger radii than the ____________________ planets.

Question 61

Which are the oldest solar system objects that have been dated radioactively? What are their ages?

Question 62

How do the motions of the Sun and planets reflect the disk shape of the solar nebula?

Question 63

How did differentiation and outgassing alter protoplanets?

Question 64

What observational evidence do we have that nebulae from which planets could form surround other stars?

Question 65

The pressure of sunlight was one of the forces that cleared the solar nebula.

Question 66

Describe four effects that helped to clear the solar nebula.

Question 67

How does the solar nebula theory account for the presence of comets?

Question 68

Describe some characteristics that all the planets seem to share,and use the solar nebula theory to explain them.

Question 69

How does the solar nebula theory explain the present densities and chemical compositions of the planets?