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planets
midterm 2
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| AU (Astronomical Unit) | The average Earth-Sun distance; 150 million kilometers; used to measure distances in the solar system. |
| Terrestrial Planets | Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars; small, rocky, high-density planets with thin or no atmospheres, few moons, and no rings. |
| Jovian Planets | Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; large, low-density planets with thick atmospheres, many moons, and ring systems. |
| Gas Giants | Jupiter and Saturn; mostly hydrogen and helium. |
| Ice Giants | Uranus and Neptune; contain more hydrogen compounds like water, methane, and ammonia. |
| Kuiper Belt | A flat disk of icy objects 30-50 AU from the Sun; source of short-period comets. |
| Oort Cloud | A distant spherical cloud (~50,000 AU) of icy bodies; source of long-period comets. |
| Definition of a Planet | Orbits the Sun, is round due to gravity (hydrostatic equilibrium), and has cleared its orbital neighborhood. |
| Dwarf Planet | A body that orbits the Sun and is round but has not cleared its orbit (e.g., Pluto). |
| Electromagnetic Radiation | Energy that travels in waves through space; includes all types of light. |
| Wave-Particle Duality | Light behaves as both a wave and as particles called photons. |
| Speed of Light (c) | 3 × 10⁸ meters per second. |
| c = fλ | The equation relating speed of light, frequency, and wavelength. |
| Frequency (f) | Number of wave cycles per second. |
| Wavelength (λ) | Distance between wave peaks. |
| Energy and Wavelength Relationship | Shorter wavelength means higher frequency and higher energy. |
| Electromagnetic Spectrum | Radio, Microwave, Infrared, Visible, Ultraviolet, X-ray, Gamma ray (low to high energy). |
| Wien's Law Concept | Hotter objects emit light at shorter wavelengths. |
| Continuous Spectrum | Produced by hot, dense objects; shows all wavelengths. |
| Emission Line Spectrum | Bright lines produced by hot, thin gas at specific wavelengths. |
| Absorption Line Spectrum | Dark lines formed when cooler gas absorbs specific wavelengths from a continuous spectrum. |
| Spectral Fingerprint | Unique pattern of lines that identifies an element. |
| Atomic Number | Number of protons in an atom. |
| Mass Number | Protons plus neutrons. |
| Isotopes | Atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons. |
| Plasma | Ionized gas; common state of matter in stars. |
| Electron Energy Levels | Electrons absorb or emit energy when moving between levels, producing spectral lines. |
| Newton's First Law | An object remains at rest or in motion unless acted upon by a force. |
| Newton's Second Law | F = ma; force equals mass times acceleration. |
| Newton's Third Law | For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. |
| Kinetic Energy | Energy of motion. |
| Potential Energy | Stored energy due to position. |
| Radiative Energy | Energy carried by light. |
| Conservation of Energy | Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed. |
| Universal Law of Gravitation | Every mass attracts every other mass. |
| Inverse Square Law | Gravitational force decreases with the square of the distance. |
| Doubling Distance Effect | If distance doubles, gravity becomes one-fourth as strong. |
| Kepler's Third Law | P² = a³; relates orbital period (P) and distance (a in AU). |
| Orbital Period | Time it takes a planet to orbit the Sun. |
| Solar System Formation Patterns | Planets orbit same direction, same plane, similar spin direction, and exist in two main types. |
| Nebular Hypothesis | The solar system formed from a collapsing, rotating cloud of gas and dust. |
| Conservation of Angular Momentum | As a rotating cloud shrinks, it spins faster and flattens into a disk. |
| Frost Line | Distance from the Sun beyond which hydrogen compounds can freeze into ice. |
| Inside Frost Line | Only rock and metal condense; terrestrial planets form. |
| Outside Frost Line | Ice and rock condense; giant planets form large cores and capture gas. |
| Accretion | Growth of planets through collisions and sticking of smaller particles. |
| Planetesimals | Kilometer-sized building blocks of planets. |
| Protoplanets | Large growing bodies that eventually become planets. |
| Giant Impact Theory | The Moon formed after a Mars-sized object collided with early Earth. |
| Radiometric Dating | Determining age by measuring radioactive decay and half-life. |
| Age of Solar System | About 4.6 billion years. |
| Internal Heat Sources | Accretion energy, radioactive decay, and tidal heating. |
| Surface Area-to-Volume Ratio | Small planets cool faster because they have proportionally more surface area. |
| Impact Cratering | Formation of craters from collisions; more craters indicate older surfaces. |
| Volcanism | Eruption of molten material onto a surface. |
| Tectonics | Movement of a planet's lithosphere. |
| Erosion | Wearing down of surface by wind, water, or other processes. |
| Differentiation | Separation of materials by density inside a planet (heavy sink, light rise). |
| Magnetic Field Requirements | A rotating planet with a molten metal interior. |
| Mars Magnetic Field | Weak because its core cooled and solidified. |
| Tides | Caused by differences in gravitational pull across Earth. |
| Tidal Effects | Ocean tides, Earth's rotation slowing, Moon moving away (~3.8 cm/year). |
| Greenhouse Effect | Warming caused by atmospheric gases trapping infrared radiation. |
| Runaway Greenhouse | Extreme heating when greenhouse effect becomes uncontrollable (Venus). |
| Weak Greenhouse | Minimal warming due to thin atmosphere (Mars). |
| Atmospheric Layers | Troposphere (weather), Stratosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere. |
| Atmospheric Pressure | Decreases with altitude. |
| Climate Influences | Distance from Sun, albedo, rotation rate, axial tilt. |
| Albedo | Reflectivity of a surface. |
| Mars Atmospheric Loss | Lost atmosphere due to low gravity and lack of magnetic field. |
| Jovian Planet Structure | Core, metallic hydrogen (Jupiter/Saturn), molecular hydrogen, cloud layers. |
| Mass vs Radius in Gas Giants | More mass does not always mean larger size due to gravitational compression. |
| Tidal Heating | Internal heating caused by gravitational stretching from orbital resonance. |
| Io Volcanism | Powered by tidal heating from Jupiter. |
| Titan | Moon of Saturn with thick atmosphere and methane lakes. |
| Triton | Neptune's moon with retrograde orbit; likely captured. |
| Planetary Rings | All four jovian planets have rings; Saturn's are largest and possibly young. |
| Asteroids | Rocky, irregular objects mainly in the asteroid belt. |
| Asteroid Belt Origin | Jupiter's gravity prevented a planet from forming there. |
| Comets | Icy bodies that develop tails when near the Sun. |
| Comet Nucleus | Solid icy core. |
| Coma | Cloud of gas around nucleus. |
| Dust Tail | Curved tail made of dust particles. |
| Plasma Tail | Straight tail made of ionized gas. |
| Short-Period Comets | Originate in Kuiper Belt. |
| Long-Period Comets | Originate in Oort Cloud. |
| Iridium Layer | Evidence of asteroid impact that contributed to dinosaur extinction. |
| Chicxulub Crater | Impact crater linked to dinosaur extinction. |
| 10 km Asteroid Impact Frequency | Occurs every few hundred million years. |
| Conservation Laws in Solar System | Explain orderly motion and formation structure. |
| Frost Line Importance | Explains why two types of planets formed. |
| Small Planet Cooling | Small planets lose heat faster. |
| Spectroscopy Importance | Reveals composition and temperature of stars and planets. |
| Greenhouse Effect Role | Determines planetary climate. |
| Tidal Heating Importance | Drives geological activity in moons. |
| Impacts and Life | Large impacts can shape planetary surfaces and influence biological evolution. |
| How Robotic Spacecraft Work | They use solar panels or nuclear power for energy, onboard computers for navigation, and thrusters for course corrections. Instruments collect data and transmit it back to Earth using radio signals. |
| Solar System Formation Clues | Planets orbit in the same direction and plane, most spin the same way, and there are two main planet types. These patterns support formation from a rotating collapsing nebula. |
| Orderly Patterns of Motion | Caused by conservation of angular momentum as the solar nebula collapsed, spun faster, and flattened into a disk. |
| Two Major Types of Planets | The frost line determined materials that condensed: rock and metal inside formed terrestrial planets; ice plus rock outside allowed giant planets to form and capture gas. |
| Origin of Asteroids and Comets | Leftover planetesimals from solar system formation; asteroids formed in the inner regions, comets formed in the outer regions. |
| Exceptions to Solar System Rules | Caused by collisions, gravitational interactions, orbital resonances, and captured objects. |
| Solar System Compared to Exoplanets | Not fully typical; many systems have hot Jupiters and super-Earths close to their stars. |
| Different Geological Histories of Terrestrial Planets | Planet size controls cooling rate; larger planets stay geologically active longer. |
| Planetary Magnetic Fields | Require a rotating planet with a molten metal core to generate a dynamo effect. |
| Impact Craters and Surface Age | Older surfaces have more craters; fewer craters indicate resurfacing. |
| Wind and Weather | Caused by uneven solar heating creating pressure differences and atmospheric circulation. |
| Long-Term Climate Change | Driven by greenhouse gas changes, albedo shifts, axial tilt, volcanic activity, and orbital variations. |
| Atmospheric Gain and Loss | Gained from volcanic outgassing and impacts; lost through thermal escape, solar wind stripping, and weak gravity. |
| Jovian Planet Similarities and Differences | All have thick atmospheres, many moons, and rings; gas giants differ from ice giants in composition. |
| Geologically Active Moons | Activity driven by tidal heating from gravitational stretching. |
| Small Icy Moons vs Small Rocky Planets | Ice melts and deforms at lower temperatures, allowing easier geological activity. |
| Origin of Jovian Rings | Formed from shattered moons or debris prevented from forming moons by tidal forces. |
| Meteorites and Asteroids | Meteorites reveal asteroid composition, age, and internal history. |
| Comet Tails | Form when solar heating vaporizes ice, producing a coma, dust tail, and plasma tail. |
| Kuiper Belt | A region of leftover icy bodies beyond Neptune that never formed into a planet. |
| Dinosaur Extinction Impact | Supported by a global iridium layer, shocked quartz, and the Chicxulub crater indicating a 10 km asteroid impact. |
| Impact Risk Today | Large extinction-level impacts are rare but smaller impacts occur more frequently. |
| Jovian Planets and Impact Rates | Jupiter can deflect or capture comets but may also redirect some toward the inner solar system. |
| Meteors vs Meteorites | A meteoroid burns in the atmosphere creating a meteor; if it reaches the ground, it becomes a meteorite. |
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