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WorksheetsInner Solar System
Total questions: 18
Worksheet time: 9mins
What is the length of Mars’s orbital radius?
1.5 AU
200 AU
2,000.5 AU
5,000 AU
Which of these statements is true of the asteroid belt?
Asteroids are very close together.
The asteroid belt lies outside of Mercury’s orbit.
The asteroid belt contains no more than a thousand asteroids.
The asteroid belt is between about 2 and 4 AU from the sun.
What of these statements is NOT true of Earth’s radius and mass?
Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets.
Earth’s large mass results in a thin atmosphere.
Earth’s crust is less than 1% of its planetary radius.
Earth’s large mass results in strong gravitational force.
What is one effect that Mars’s small mass has on its atmosphere?
The atmosphere is more concentrated with greenhouse gases.
The gravitational force holding the atmosphere is not very strong.
Its atmosphere often switches back and forth between being thick and thin.
Its similar mass to Earth means that it contains enough oxygen for a person to breathe.
Why does Venus experience higher temperatures than those experienced by Mercury?
Venus is covered in volcanoes
Venus is closer to the sun than Mercury.
Venus receives more direct sunlight than Mercury.
Venus’s atmosphere absorbs and traps more thermal energy from the sun.
What is the advantage of using space telescopes over ground telescopes?
Space telescopes can travel anywhere in the solar system.
Space telescopes are always more powerful than ground telescopes.
Space telescopes are able to store more information than ground telescopes.
Space telescopes are not affected by light pollution and Earth’s atmosphere.
Which of these statements is true of how astronomers have used spacecraft to collect information about the solar system?
Many spacecraft contain tools that help to determine the masses of distant moons.
Spacecraft technology only allows spacecraft to fall into orbit around celestial bodies.
Astronomers have sent spacecraft to different parts of the solar system starting in the 1990s.
Photos obtained from spacecraft are often lack the detail of photos from ground telescopes.
What is the length of Mercury’s orbital radius?
0.00004 AU
0.4 AU
14 AU
400 AU
What is one reason Earth’s temperature range is important to life on the planet?
It produces a breathable atmosphere on Earth.
It allows liquid water to exist on the surface.
It helps the greenhouse effect be less noticeable.
It makes Earth the only potentially habitable planet.
Which of these statements is NOT true of Ceres?
It is the tiniest known dwarf planet.
It is the largest object in the asteroid belt.
It has easily accessible water and ice above its crust.
It could have about as much fresh water as Earth has on its surface.
What is the length of Venus’s orbital radius?
0.7 AU
17 AU
50 AU
200.7 AU
Why are surface temperatures on Mars lower than Earth’s surface temperatures?
Mars is closer to the sun, but has a thinner atmosphere.
Mars has an equally thick atmosphere, but is farther from the sun.
Mars is farther away from the sun and has a thinner atmosphere.
Mars has lost more of its internal temperature when compared to Earth.
What are two ways that telescopes interact with light?
They filter and spread light.
They collect and spread light.
They filter and concentrate light.
They collect and concentrate light.
Which of these is NOT true of all terrestrial planets in the inner solar system?
They have a metal core.
They have at least one moon.
They have a hard, rocky surface.
They have mountains, valleys, and plains.
What is the length of Earth’s orbital radius?
0.0004 AU
1 AU
20 AU
1,000 AU
Why is Mercury both very hot and very cold?
It is far from the sun, but has a thin atmosphere.
It is far from the moon, but has a thick atmosphere.
It is very close to the sun, but has a thin atmosphere.
It is very close to the moon, but has a thick atmosphere.
Which of these might determine the surface temperature of a planet?
the heat generated by a planets core
the degree of tilt in a planet’s axis
how fast a planet rotates on its axis
the concentration of sunlight that reaches the planet.
Which of these is NOT an observation early astronomers were able to make with the unaided eye?
Planets move around relative to stars
There are eight planets in our solar system.
Stars appear to stay in the same position relative to each other.
A few very bright points of light moved differently than other points of light.
