Atoms to Humans 2.5
The ages of the oldest materials in the solar system—from Earth, Moon, Mars, & asteroids—all fall in a narrow range near 4.56 billion years, the formation age of our solar system.
True
The inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) consist mostly of rock and metal.
True
The rotation direction of the proplyd produced the orbit & spin directions of most of the planets.
True
Today, humanity can test scientific explanations of how planetary systems form by directly observing other planetary systems, some of which are presently forming.
True
Select ALL true statements about: Ordered distribution of motion in the solar system
All statements are false.
Humanity has never determined the age of a sample from Mercury or Venus. Because of this, it is impossible to know anything about when these planets formed.
False
Proplyds consist entirely of the dust that coalesces to become planets.
False
Scientific explanations for how our planetary system formed are poorly tested, because humans did not observe the formation of the solar system.
False
The asteroids in our solar system are ancient. In contrast, such ancient solids are missing from Earth.
False
The characteristics of icy bodies such as comets indicate that they formed near the Sun and then migrated to their present orbits far from the Sun.
False
The characteristics of planetary bodies in our solar system that consist mostly of rock and metal indicate that they formed in orbits very far from the Sun, and then migrated to their present orbits near the Sun.
False
The oldest solids on Earth are quite young (just a few thousand years), but the oldest solids from Moon, Mars, and the Asteroid belt are ancient and fall in a narrow range near 4.56 billion years.
False
The orbit and spin directions of the planets were caused by the large 'explosions' associated with the start of fusion in our star, the Sun.
False
The outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) consist mostly of ice.
False
The planets in our solar system all spin in completely different (random) directions.
False
The temperature variations in the proplyd that formed our solar system were small.
False
All large objects in our solar system (planets, moons, asteroids, comets) originated around the same time.
True
Earth is rocky because it formed near the Sun.
True
Ice is abundant in the outer solar system, relative to rock & metal.
True
Many comets and meteorites contain materials that formed from the proplyd and have changed very little since then.
True
Most (~99%) of the matter that formed the solar system now resides in the Sun.
True
Most planets orbit (revolve) the Sun in the same direction, but they spin (rotate) in random directions.
True
Planets form in the proplyd as small solids grow through collision.
True
Some meteorites contain solids that formed directly from the proplyd.
True
Instead of having uniformly-young or randomly-distributed formation ages, the ages of the oldest solids in the solar system fall within a narrow range near 4.56 billion years.
Ordered ages of solids in the solar system
Instead of movement being distributed evenly between the sun & planetary bodies, it is concentrated in planetary bodies.
Ordered distribution of motion in the solar system
Instead of all planetary bodies being composed of the same materials, low-temperature materials are far more abundant in the planetary bodies of the outer solar.
Ordered distribution of type of matter—rock, metal, ice, & gas—in the solar system
Instead of spinning in all or many directions, most bodies in the solar system spin in the direction that the Sun spins and planets orbit.
Ordered rotation of matter in the solar system