Solar System Pre-Test

1) Which planet has the shortest year?

• A) Mercury
• B) Earth
• C) Uranus
• D) Neptune

2) In astronomical units, how much farther is Saturn from the Sun than Jupiter is?

• A) 4.34 AU
• B) 9.54 AU
• C) 5 AU
• D) 40 AU

3) The order of the inner planets outward from the Sun is ____.

• A) Mercury, Earth, Venus, and Mars
• B) Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
• C) Mars, Venus, Earth, and Mercury
• D) Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury

4) Although Mercury is closer to the Sun, why is Venus hotter?

• A) Venus has a dense atmosphere and greenhouse gases that cause it to retain heat energy it receives from the Sun.
• B) Mercury is too small to get very warm.
• C) Mercury has no atmosphere to hold the heat.
• D) Both a and c are correct.

5) ____ is the largest planet in the solar system and has colorful clouds.

• A) Jupiter
• B) Saturn
• C) Uranus
• D) Neptune

6) All the inner planets

• A) have at least one moon.
• B) have thick atmospheres.
• C) are rocky and have a solid outer layer.

7) How is Venus unlike other planets?

• A) It has a solid inner core.
• B) It has an atmosphere.
• C) Its period of rotation is longer than its period of revolution.

8) Of the following, which inner planet has the longest year and why?

• A) Venus, because it spins very slowly
• B) Mercury, because it is closest to the Sun
• C) Mars, because it is really far from the Sun
• D) Neptune, because it is the furthest planet from the Sun

9) All the outer planets are made mostly of

• A) water ice.
• B) metal and rock.
• C) gas and liquid around a solid core.
• D) air.

10) Which is not a characteristic of the inner planets?

• A) iron/nickel core
• B) higher average temperatures
• C) Greenhouse effects due to the presence of Carbon Dioxide in their atmospheres
• D) higher gravitational pull on the objects around them (why they're closer together)