solar system
gravitational force gets stronger as the _____ of the objects increases
mass
which planet has the most extreme variations in temperature
mercury
what is the strength of gravity on the surface of earth
9.8 N/kg
which planet is closest to earth in size, gravitational strength, and composition?
venus
gas planets
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and neptune
meteor
a chunk of burning rock traveling through earth's atmosphere
asteroid belt
a huge gap that cuts the solar system in two
planet
a massive object orbiting a star, like the sun. A true planet has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit and has enough mass so that its gravity forms it into a spherical shape
meteorite
a meteor that passes through earth's atmosphere and strikes the ground
gravitational force
all objects that have mass attract each other through this force
comet
an object in space made mostly of ice and dust
asteroid
an object that orbits the sun but is too small to be considered a planet
the orbits of the planets are ellipses instead of perfect circles because
as the solar system formed from swirling gases, interactions between planets caused slight variations in velocity vector
gravitational force gets weaker as _________ increases
distance
what can affects the gravitational forces between objects
distance
pluto
dwarf planet which appear as small dots compared with the size of the sun
mercury is most similar to _______
earth's moon
astronomical unit
equal to 150 million kilometers.
terrestrial planets
mercury, venus, earth and mars
planetary satellite
small body of matter that orbits a planet
as the comet gets closer to the sun, it will form a ______
tail
venus
the brightest planets in the sky
mercury
the closest planet to the sun, has no moon, and no atmosphere
relationship between gravitational force and distance
the decrease in gravitational force is proportional to the inverse square of the distance from the center of one object to the center of the other
the force is directly proportional to each object's mass
the force goes up by the same factor as the mass
newton's law of universal gravitation
the force of gravity between objects depends on their masses and the distance between them
weight
the force of gravity between you and Earth
nucleus
the inner core of the comet
sun
the largest object in the solar system
coma
the outer layer of the comet as it approaches the sun, and some of its ice turns into gas and dust
solar system
the sun, planets, and their moons, and other objects that are gravitationally bound to the sun