Name_________________________________________ Date_______________________ Period_____
Study Guide: Solar System
1. How many planets are there in the solar system?
2. What is the correct order of all the planets in the solar system?
3. Where can a comet be located in the solar system?
4. What is located between Mars and Jupiter?
5. What separates the inner planets from the outer planets?
6. What is the geocentric model?
7. What is the heliocentric model?
8. What model do we believe in now?
Name_________________________________________ Date_______________________ Period_____
9. Mass and the force of gravity have a direct relationship. What does this mean?
10. Distance and the force of gravity have an indirect relationship. What does this mean?
11. The attraction between 2 objects in known as ________________________.
12. When an object wants to continue in the motion its already traveling in is called_____.
13. Draw a model of gravity and inertia working together to create an orbit path.
Name_________________________________________ Date_______________________ Period_____
14. Explain what would happen to the orbit path of earth if the sun did not exist. Why
would this happen?
15. Explain the difference between meteor, meteoroid and meteorite
16. What is one theory that geologist believed that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.
17. What is an asteroid made out of?
18. What is a comet made out of?
19. Draw an orbit path of a comet, planet and an asteroid.
Name_________________________________________ Date_______________________ Period_____
20. What did the following scientist accomplish for the Solar System?
a. Ptolemy
b. Copernicus
c. Kepler
d. Galileo
e. Newton
21) The universe is organized into groups of millions or billions of stars called what?
22) The Milky Way is what type of galaxy?
23) The life cycle of a star begins with a cloud of gas and dust called
24) A star is born when ____________________________________________________.
25) Explain the difference between meteor, meteoroid and meteorite.
Name_________________________________________ Date_______________________ Period_____
26) The distance between stars is typically measured in what?
27) The life time of a star depends on its_________________________________.
28) The HR diagram is use to classify stars based on these 5 characteristics.
29) What is the hottest color on the HR diagram? The coolest?
30) As one goes up the y axis on the HR diagram the brightness _______________________.
31) List the steps in order of both a high mass and low mass star.
32) How are galaxies classified?
33) What are the four types of galaxies?
34) What tool is used to classify galaxies?
35) What type of galaxies has the youngest stars in them? Oldest stars?
Name_________________________________________ Date_______________________ Period_____
ANSWERS
Study Guide: Solar System
1. How many planets are there in the solar system?

8: Pluto is a dwarf planet
2. What is the correct order of all the planets in the solar system?

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
3. Where can a comet be located in the solar system?

Anywhere

Most Common: Outermost region of Solar System: Oort Cloud and Kuiper Belt

Inner planets if orbit path is right
4. What is located between Mars and Jupiter?

Asteroid Belt
5. What separates the inner planets from the outer planets?

Asteroid Belt
6. What is the geocentric model?

When the Earth was believed to be the center of the Solar System with perfect
circle orbits from 140 AD to about 1500 (NOT CORRECT)
7. What is the heliocentric model?

When the Sun is the center of the Solar System but they believed the orbit was in
perfect circles (ORBITS NOT CORRECT)
8. What model do we believe in now?
Name_________________________________________ Date_______________________ Period_____

The sun is the center of the Solar System but gravity and inertia work together to
create ELLIPTICAL orbit paths.
9. Mass and the force of gravity have a direct relationship. What does this mean?

If mass increases so does the force of gravity

If mass decreases so does the force of gravity
10. Distance and the force of gravity have an indirect relationship. What does this mean?

If distance decrease force of gravity increases

If distance increases force of gravity decreases
11. The attraction between 2 objects in known as ________________________.

gravity
12. When an object wants to continue in the motion its already traveling in is called_____.

inertia
13. Draw a model of gravity and inertia working together to create an orbit path.
A
A= Inertia
B= Gravity
Sun
B
C= Elliptical Orbit
Planet
C
14. Explain what would happen to the orbit path of earth if the sun did not exist. Why
would this happen.
Name_________________________________________ Date_______________________ Period_____

Earth would continue in the path of inertia because the gravitational force of
the sun would no longer be there. Inertia wants an object to continue in the
path it is already taking, a straight line. So Earth would continue in a straight
line until it came upon another object that had a greater mass than itself (=
greater force) and then it would orbit that object.
15. Explain the difference between meteor, meteoroid and meteorite.

Meteoroids: Is a chunk of rock and dust that is located out in deep space.

Meteors: A streak of light caused by the burning up of a meteoroid in the
atmosphere.

Meteorites: A meteoroid that has passed through the atmosphere and hit
Earth’s surface (Right in the Earth’s Surface)
16. What is one theory that geologist believed that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.

That an asteroid hit the Earth’s surface and between the impact and the
aftermath the dinosaurs became extinct.
17. What is an asteroid made out of?

Rock and Metals (Iron)
18. What is a comet made out of?

Dust, Ice and Gas
19. Draw an orbit path of a comet, planet and an asteroid?
Comet:
Asteroid:
20. What did the following scientist accomplish for the Solar System?
Planet:
Name_________________________________________ Date_______________________ Period_____
a. Ptolemy: Proposed that the Earth was the center (geocentric model) of the solar
systems orbiting in perfect circles
b. Copernicus: Proposed that the Sun was the center (heliocentric model) of the
solar systems orbiting in perfect circles
c. Kepler: Supported the heliocentric model but discovered that the orbits of the
planets were not circular but elliptical.
d. Galileo: Worked with the refracting telescopes to discovery more about the solar
system like Jupiter and its moons.
e. Newton: His laws of motion and gravity explained how the inertia of a planet and
gravity of the sun work together to create the elliptical orbit path of the planets.
21. The universe is organized into groups of millions or billions of stars called what?
Galaxies
22. The Milky Way is what type of galaxy?
Spiral Galaxy
23. The life cycle of a star begins with a cloud of gas and dust called a
Nebula
Name_________________________________________ Date_______________________ Period_____
24. A star is born when ____________________________________________________.
a. A protostar reaches 15,000,000⁰C and nuclear fusion starts
25. Explain the difference between meteor, meteoroid and meteorite. (SAME AS #15 SORRY)
Meteoroids: Is a chunk of rock and dust that is located out in deep space.
Meteors: A streak of light caused by the burning up of a meteoroid in the atmosphere.
Meteorites: A meteoroid that has passed through the atmosphere and hit Earth’s surface
(Right in the Earth’s Surface)
REMEMBER THE TRICK…
OIDS- Out in deep space
EOR- Earth’s outer rim (atmosphere)
RITES- Right in the Earth’s Surface
26. The distance between stars is typically measured in what?
Light years
27. The life time of a star depends on its_________________________________.
Mass of the star
28. The HR diagram is use to classify stars based on these 5 characteristics.
a. color/temperature
b. Brightness/Luminosity
c. Age: Life Cycle of a Star (white dwarf, main sequence, giants and super giants)
Name_________________________________________ Date_______________________ Period_____
d. Size/Mass
e. Composition
29. What is the hottest color on the HR diagram? The coolest?
Hottest Color is dark blue and the coolest is red. The temperature goes from hot  to cool
Hot
Cool
30. As one goes up the y axis on the HR diagram the brightness _______________________.
Increases
Name_________________________________________ Date_______________________ Period_____
31. List the steps in order of both a high mass and low mass star.
LOW MASS STAR: Nebula Protostar Main Sequence Star  Red Giant  Planetary Nebula 
White Dwarf  Black Dwarf
HIGH MASS STAR: Nebula Protostar Main Sequence Star  Red Super Giant  Supernova
Neutron Star
32. How are galaxies classified?
By their Shape
33. What are the four types of galaxies?
Black hole
Name_________________________________________ Date_______________________ Period_____
Irregular
Spiral
Barred Spiral
Name_________________________________________ Date_______________________ Period_____
Elliptical
34. What tool is used to classify galaxies?
The Hubble Tuning Fork Diagram (The Edwin Hubble’s Classification Scheme)
35. What type of galaxies has the youngest stars in them? Oldest stars?
Elliptical –Oldest
Irregular- Youngest