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WorksheetsThe SOLAR SYSTEMMMMMMMM
Total questions: 30
Worksheet time: 15mins
Which of these terms describes a force of attraction between two objects that results from their masses?
aphelion
gravity
orbit
planetesimal
The diagram below shows the effect of mass and distance on the force of gravity. Which configuration will result in the greatest gravitational force?
small masses far apart
large masses far apart
small masses close together
large masses close together
The distance between objects, along with the masses of the objects, affect the gravitational force between the objects. Which statement is true according to Newton’s law of universal gravitation?
When the masses of objects increase, gravitational force decreases.
When distance between objects increases, gravitational force decreases.
When distance between objects decreases, gravitational force decreases.
When the masses of objects decrease, the distance between objects decreases.
Which of these choices states Kepler’s first law of planetary motion?
As a planet moves around its orbit, the planet sweeps out equal areas in equal amounts of time.
The orbit of a planet or other body around the sun is an ellipse, and the sun is one focus of the ellipse.
The square of a planet’s orbital period is proportional to the cube of the planet’s mean distance from the sun.
Gravitational force increases as the mass of an object increases or as the distance between two objects decreases.
Lee performed calculations that showed that the square of a planet’s orbital period is proportional to the cube of the planet’s mean distance from the sun. What did Lee’s calculations demonstrate?
Newton’s law of universal gravitation
Kepler’s first law of planetary motion
Kepler’s second law of planetary motion
Kepler’s third law of planetary motion
The diagram below shows the orbit of Halley’s comet. Each region has the same area. The comet covers region 1 in 2,313 days. How long does the comet take to cover region 4?
13 days
48 days
578 days
2,313 days
Cara is explaining to her sister how the solar system formed. Which description would she use to explain the solar nebula?
a rotating cloud of dust and gas
a disk of material surrounding a young star
a small body from which planets form
a rocky core surrounded by a deep atmosphere of gas and ice
Which statement is true about gas giants?
Gas giants formed close to the sun and contain deep, gaseous atmospheres.
Gas giants have gaseous cores and rocky surfaces because the planets are far from the sun.
Gas giants contain no rock or metals because the planets are too cold for these materials to condense.
Gas giants contain ices because these planets formed far enough from the sun that these materials could condense.
Eric is creating a timeline of the formation of the solar system. Which flow chart best describes the formation of the solar system?
solar nebula ® protostellar disk ® nuclear fusion ® sun ® planetesimals ® planets
solar nebula ® protostellar disk ® nuclear fusion ® planetesimals ® planets ® sun
protostellar disk ® nuclear fusion ® sun ® solar nebula ® planetesimals ® planets
solar nebula ® nuclear fusion ® sun ® planets ® planetesimals ® protostellar disk
Which statement best describes the role of gravity and centripetal force in the motion of planets around the sun?
Gravity provides the centripetal force that keeps planets in orbit.
The sun's gravity causes planets to move forward in a straight line.
A planet's orbit is the result of forward motion and unbalanced forces.
Centripetal force is an unbalanced force causing planets to move in a circular path.
Early astronomers proposed many theories about the objects they saw in the sky. Using these theories, they tried to explain the location and movement of these objects. The diagram below shows one theory about Earth and its neighbors in space. Which theory does this diagram illustrate?
Ptolemy’s theory
Aristotle’s theory
geocentric theory
heliocentric theory
Early astronomers created different models of the solar system. One model is shown in the diagram below.
Which model of the solar system does this diagram illustrate?
geocentric model
heliocentric model
Copernican model
Aristarchan model
Which term describes the apparent shift in the position of an object when a person views it from different locations?
ellipses
parallax
axis of rotation
parallax problem
This diagram shows part of the solar system. In addition to several planets, the diagram includes a belt of small objects that orbit the sun. Which objects are located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter?
asteroids
comets
Kuiper Belt objects
meteorites
This crater is located near Flagstaff, Arizona. Which of these objects created this crater?
meteoroid
meteor
meteorite
Kuiper Belt object
People sometimes talk about seeing shooting stars. What do they actually see?
a meteoroid traveling through space
a meteoroid that burns up in the atmosphere close enough to see
a star that is moving through the galaxy
a comet that has come close enough to Earth’s atmosphere to be seen.
Study the features of this diagram. Which of these objects is pictured in the diagram?
an asteroid
a comet
a meteor
a meteorite
The drawing below shows the circular outlines of the five major dwarf planets, drawn to scale. Makemake has a diameter that is greater than two other dwarf planets and less than two other dwarf planets. Which dwarf planet is the smallest, and which is the largest?
Ceres is the smallest and Eris is the largest.
Ceres is the smallest and Pluto is the largest.
Eris is the smallest and Haumea is the largest.
Haumea is the smallest and Pluto is the largest.
Which of these objects is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter?
the Kuiper Belt
the Oort Cloud
the asteroid belt
all of the meteoroid
Look at this picture of the Oort Cloud. Which of these choices best describes the Oort Cloud?
sphere that surrounds the solar system
spherical collection of mostly asteroids
spherical collection of mostly meteoroids
sphere that is off to one side of the solar system
Some planets have rings of ice and rock particles that orbit around their equators. Which of the following planets in the solar system have rings?
Saturn only
Jupiter and Saturn only
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune only
Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto only
Astronomers measure distances in the solar system in astronomical units (AU). Earth is 1 AU from the sun. The table below shows information about the distances of the gas giant planets from the sun.
Planet Distance from the Sun
Jupiter 5.20 AU
Saturn 9.58 AU
Uranus 19.2 AU
Neptune 30.1 AU
Which gas giant planet is about 10 times farther from the sun than Earth is?
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
The diagram below shows models of the gas giants that include the tilt of each axis of rotation. Which gas giant does model 3 represent?
Jupiter
Mercury
Neptune
Uranus
The diagram below shows a pie chart of the atmospheric composition of a planet in the solar system. Which planet could contain this atmosphere?
Earth
Jupiter
Mars
Venus
Planets can rotate about their axes at different speeds and in different directions. The diagram below shows the rotation of Earth and one of the gas giant planets. How does the rotation of the gas giant planet compare to the rotation of Earth?
Both have prograde rotation.
Both have retrograde rotation.
The gas giant has prograde rotation, and Earth has retrograde rotation.
The gas giant has retrograde rotation, and Earth has prograde rotation.
What property of the gas giant plants would account for their having more moons than the number of moons that orbit Earth?
Gas giants rotate more rapidly than Earth, so they eject more material that could form natural satellites.
Gas giants are less dense than Earth, so they contain less material that could form natural satellites.
Gas giants are more massive than Earth and thus have greater gravitational forces, so they could attract more objects.
Gas giants are farther from the sun than Earth, so there are fewer objects in that part of space to attract into orbits.
An atmosphere acts as insulation to keep a planet’s surface warm. Mercury has almost no atmosphere. How does the lack of atmosphere affect temperatures on Mercury?
Temperatures vary less than they would if Mercury had an atmosphere.
Temperatures vary more than they would if Mercury had an atmosphere.
Temperatures would not be affected if Mercury had an atmosphere.
Temperatures would be affected only when Mercury is closest to the sun.
Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system. The figure below shows part of the planet’s surface and atmosphere.
Why is Venus so hot?
The surface of Venus absorbs energy from the sun.
The rotation of Venus affects how the sun’s rays enter its atmosphere.
The atmosphere of Venus reflects heat back down to the surface of the planet.
The atmosphere of Venus allows the sun’s rays to go back into space to absorb more energy from the sun.
Which terrestrial planets have diameters that are nearly equal in size?
Earth and Mars
Mars and Venus
Earth and Venus
Mars and Mercury
Mercury’s year is 88 days long. That is about one-fourth as long as a year on Earth. Why is a year on Mercury so short?
Mercury’s orbit is elliptical.
Mercury’s atmosphere is very thin.
Mercury’s rotation speed is very slow.
Mercury’s orbit is the shortest in the solar system.
