Week 1

Question 1

what did the big bang do

Answer 1

it exploded all the elements of the Universe that we see and the space in which we see them

Question 2

when was the earliest giant stars formed and what was formed after?

Answer 2

100 million years after big bang and then galaxies (assemble of a trillion stars)

Question 3

the sun accounts for ___ of our solar system’s mass

Answer 3

99.8%

Question 4

what are planets

Answer 4

large formed bodies orbiting a star (the sun)

and have a spherical shape

have largely cleared other things in orbite around them (by gravity)

Question 5

how many planets in our solar system

Answer 5

8

Question 6

what is a moon

Answer 6

body gravitationally locked in orbit around a planet

Question 7

what else orbits around the sun

Answer 7

millions of asteroid, trillions of icy bodies orbit the sun

Question 8

two main grouops of planets occur in the solar system

Answer 8

1. Terrestrial Planets
   small, dense, rocky
   mercury, Venus, Earth, mars
2. Giant planets
   large, low-density, gas and ice/water giants
   - gas giants: Jupiter, Saturn (hydrogen and Helium)
   - ice giants: Uranus, Neptune (frozen water, ammonia, methane)

Question 9

what is the solar system held together by

Answer 9

gravity

Question 10

how was the solar system formed

Answer 10

concentration of gas and dusts released by earlier stars and supernova:

The region where mass was concentrated began to pull in gas:
- Region gained mass and density
-Mass compacted into smaller region and began to rotate
- Rotation rate increased, dev. a disk shape
- central ball of disk became hot enough to glow
- a protostar was born (sun) 4.6 Ga
- planets formed within the rotation nebula

Question 11

where do elements come from

Answer 11

the original big bang formed the lightest elements (H,He,Li,Be, B) (atomic # 1-5)

Then heavier elements (atomic number 6-26

Question 12

when did the heavist element (#s > 26) form

Answer 12

during fast neutron capture processes in supernova

Question 13

during the solar system’s formation, what happened to the dust in the rings?

Answer 13

condenses into mineral particules, particles coalesce to form planetesimals

Question 14

how did planets form

Answer 14

planetesimals clump into a lumpy protoplanet

interior heats, softens, gravity forms a sphere

Question 15

what does the interior differentiates into during formation of planets

Answer 15

a stony outer shell - the mantle
a central iron rich core

Question 16

formation of moon

Answer 16

4.53 Ga

mars sized planet collides with earth

planet and part of earth’s mantle disintegrated

collision debris forms a ring around earth

debris coalesces and forms the moon

Question 17

t or F the moon has a composition simliar to Earth’s

Answer 17

true

Question 18

formation of atmosphere and oceans

Answer 18

earths atmosphere develps from volcanic gases

when earth becomes cool enough: moisutre condennses and accumulates and oceans are created

Question 19

what would space visitors notice orbiting around earth

Answer 19

atmosphere (gaseous envelope)
hydrosphere (blue liquid water)
biosphere (life)
lithosphere (solid outer shell)

Question 20

what components comprises earth system

Answer 20

atmos, hydros, biosphere, lithosphere

Question 21

what fuels internal processes

Answer 21

heat from radioacive decay

Question 22

what powers atmospher, biosphere, hydrosphere

Answer 22

sunlight

Question 23

what is earth’s magnetic field generated from

Answer 23

fluid circulation in the liquid outer layer of the core

Question 24

what are hot spots

Answer 24

plumes of deep mantle material independent of plates

• not linked to plate bnoundaries
• originates as a deep mantle plume
  -plume partially melts lithosphere: magma rises to surface

Question 25

what do hot spots perforate what

Answer 25

overriding plates