According to the giant impact hypothesis about the formation of the Moon, why did the Earth not break apart into many pieces when the giant impact happened?
A) cosmic impacts are always so slow, the bodies involved never break into pieces
B) the impactor was about the size of Mars or smaller, so it ejected material from the Earth but did not break it
C) the impactor was made of such light material (mostly gas and liquid) it could not break the Earth apart
D) there were more than a dozen small impactors, all hitting one after another
E) the Earth did break apart into many pieces, which then re-formed into a planet
Section 9.5: Mercury

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Mercury is heavily cratered and has a large iron core relative to its size, which suggests that it was originally a larger planetesimal that was stripped of its outer layers due to a giant impact with a larger body.

According to the Giant Impact Hypothesis About the Formation of the Moon