INNER PLANETS Flashcards
Which planets are often called the terrestrial planets?
the 4 inner planets: Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars
What are 3 similarities among the inner planets?
They are small, dense and have rocky surfaces.
Of the four inner planets which has the greatest diameter?
Earth
Which planet rotates on its axis in about the same amount of time that Earth does?
Mars
Name in order the inner planets starting from the sun.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
True or False.
- About 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water.
- No other planet in the solar system has oceans like Earth’s.
- True
2. True
What are the 3 main layers of Earth?
Crust, mantle, core
What is Earth’s dense inner core made of?
iron and nickel
What two gases make up most of Earth’s atmosphere?
20% of it is oxygen and the rest is nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
True or False. Mercury
- Mercury’s surface has many craters.
- Mercury has no moons.
- Mercury is the closest to the sun.
- It is made up of mercury.
- TRUE
- TRUE
- TRUE
- FALSE
Why does Mercury have a greater range of temperatures than any other planet?
Because it is close to the Sun.
What is Venus sometimes called because it is often bright after the sunset?
The Evening Star
Which gas makes up most of Venus’ atmosphere?
sulfuric acid
How is the rotation of Venus different from that of most other planets and moons?
It rotates from east to west and very slowly that its day is longer than its year.
True or False
The atmosphere of Venus is so thick that there is never a sunny day on its surface.
True
What is the Greenhouse effect?
the trapping of the heat in the atmosphere like in Venus.
Why is Mars called the red planet?
Because it’s covered with red dust.
What is the atmosphere of Mars composed of?
carbon dioxide
True or False
Mars has no canals.
True
Why so some regions on Mars look darker than others?
because of windstorms.
True Facts of Mars
Mars’ polar ice caps contain frozen water and carbon dioxide.
Mars has seasons because it’s tilted on its axis.
Mars has giant volcanoes.
It has two small moons, Phobos & Deimos.
What are Mars’ two moons called?
Phobos and Deimos. They predict that Phobos will smash into Mars.
Characteristics of Earth and Mars
Characteristics Earth Mars
Atmosphere Nitrogen/Oxygen carbon dioxide
Moons 1 2
Seasons yes yes
Surface solid/rocky solid/rocky
Water yes at poles/underground
