NAME: _________________________________
PERIOD: _______
SOLAR SYSTEM
The Inner Planets Study Guide
1. What event initiated the process that led to the formation of our solar system? How long ago did this occur?
2. What is the approximate age of our solar system?
3. Explain the nebula hypothesis. What is a nebula?
4. What is conservation of angular momentum and explain its role in solar system genesis.
5. What three competing forces cause the early contracting nebular to form into a flattened spinning disk with a
central bulge?
6. What caused local regions in the collapsing nebula to form into the Sun and the different planets?
7. What percent of the mass of the entire solar system is our Sun?
8. Hydrogen and helium make up what percent of the solar system mass?
9. The inner planets are comprised mostly of ...
 carbonates
 silicates
 sulfides
 oxides
10. What class of star is our Sun? How is it categorized on the H-R diagram?
11. In about 5.5 billion years our Sun will become a ___________. Following this it will develop into a ________.
12. The diameter of the Sun is _____________.
13. The surface temperature of the Sun is ___________ K.
14. The core temperature of the Sun is _____________ K.
15. The Earth is _____ AU from the Sun. How far is this in kilometers?
16. The 4 inner planets are _____________, ______________, _____________ and _____________.
17. The closest planet to the Sun is ________________.
18. Which of the terrestrial planets ...
 is the largest? ________________
 is the smallest? __________________
 is the hottest? ________________
 has the greatest temperature range? __________________
 has a retrograde rotation? _________________
 has a runaway greenhouse effect occurring in its atmosphere? __________________
 has no atmosphere? _________________
 aside from the Earth generates a magnetic field? __________________
 has liquid water? ________________
 has rotational and revolutional periods most similar to the Earth? _______________
 is 1 AU from the Sun? _________________
 is 1.52 AU from the Sun? _________________
 is .38 AU from the Sun? __________________
 is .72 AU from the Sun? _________________
 lie within the habitable zone? _________________
 has captured asteroids as moons? _______________
 has no moons? _________________
 has the greatest atmospheric pressure? ________________
 is tectonically active? _________________
 has largest volcano in the solar system? ________________
 has the largest canyon in the solar system? ________________
 is mostly CO2 ? ________________
 aside from the Earth could harbor life? _______________
 has a geologic history most similar to the Earth? _________________
 has a moon formed from a collision with a Mars size planetismal? ________________
 has a core composition of iron and sulfur? ________________
 has a core composition of iron and nickel? ________________
 has seasonal dust storms? _______________
 has abundant and diverse life forms? ________________
 has an atmosphere divided into 5 layers? ________________
 has a tilted magnetic field? _______________
 is heavily cratered? ______________
 has the weakest gravitational field? _______________
 has the strongest gravitational field? _______________
 is the most massive? _______________
 is the least massive? _______________
 has no volcanoes (active or extinct)? ______________
 has the longest days? ______________
 has the shortest days? ______________
 has an atmosphere of mostly nitrogen? ______________
 has 15 major tectonic plates? _______________
 has the most moons? ________________
PLANET
and
Symbol
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Distance
from Sun
AU
Diameter
km
Period
of
Rotation
Period
of
Revolution
Temperature
C
External
Structure
and
Composition
Internal
Structure
and
Composition