EAPS 105 Exam 3 Study Guide
Questions with 100% Correct
Answers
What is regolith? - Answer- A layer of loose dust and small particles left over from many
impacts
Where the main asteroid belt located. - Answer- Between Mars and Jupiter
How crowded the asteroid belt is - Answer- -Not very dense
-1 million asteroids
-Distance between asteroids is 500,000km
The cause of the Kirkwood gaps in the asteroid belt. - Answer- Gravitational interactions
(orbital resonances) with Jupiter, preventing asteroids from occupying certain orbits
The relative amount of total mass in the asteroid belt. - Answer- 4% of the mass of the
moon, .05% the mass of earth
Why comets are referred to as dirty ice balls. - Answer- Mixture of ice and rock/metal,
they represent some of the earliest building blocks of the outer planets (beyond the ice
line)
The average density of comets compared to ice and rock. - Answer- 600 kg/m^3, like
oatmeal as compared to 900 kg/m^3 for ice and 3000 kg/m^3 for rock
Why comets are referred to as rubble piles. - Answer- Collections of smaller objects
loosely held together by their small gravitational attractions
Why comets have tails - Answer- Solar radiation causes ices to vaporize (sublimate)
and stream out of the nucleus, carrying dust and gas away forming a gas and dust tails
The direction gas moves away from a comet to form a gas tail. - Answer- Compromised
of molecules ionized (charged) by ultraviolet light from the sun, causing it to emit blue
light
-pushed directly away from the sun by the solar wind (charges particles streaming from
the sun
, The direction dust moves away from a comet to form a dust tail. - Answer- Moved away
from the comet by pressure from sunlight, falls behind the motion of the comet,
separating it from the gas tail
When dust jets initiate - Answer- Sporadically and last for short time periods (Not sure
what initiates dust jets)
The main components of a primary atmosphere. - Answer- Hydrogen and Helium
Which planets have kept their primary atmospheres. - Answer- Gas Giants: Jupiter
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
The factors that influence the escape velocity of a planet. - Answer- Gravitational field..
greater mass of the planet- higher velocity. greater radius- lower velocity needed to
escape.
The planet with the highest escape velocity. - Answer- Jupiter (59.54)
The factors that influence the velocity of an atmospheric gas molecule. - Answer- Higher
temp-faster gas molecules move
Lighter atomic weight- faster gas molecules move
The combination of factors that lead to the fastest gas molecule velocities. - Answer-
High temperatures, low escape velocity, light molecular weight
The heaviest gas that should be retained by Mars' atmosphere. - Answer- Carbon
Dioxide
How Earth obtained most of the oxygen (O2) in its atmosphere. - Answer- Life
(microbes) converted CO2 into O2
The major differences between the atmospheres of Earth and Venus. - Answer- Venus
is 96% CO2 (carbon dioxide), 3% N2 and 90 atm.
Earth is 78%N2 (nitrogen), 21% O2 (oxygen
Venus has a surface temp. of 465 C & Sulfuric Acid clouds
The major differences between the atmospheres of Venus and Mars. - Answer- Venus
is 15,000 times more dense than Mars
The ability of a low-density atmosphere to blow things around. - Answer- High winds
would not pick up objects bigger than grains of sand
The presence of dust devils active on Mars. - Answer- More than 1mil. occur each day
(100m wide and 20km high)
Questions with 100% Correct
Answers
What is regolith? - Answer- A layer of loose dust and small particles left over from many
impacts
Where the main asteroid belt located. - Answer- Between Mars and Jupiter
How crowded the asteroid belt is - Answer- -Not very dense
-1 million asteroids
-Distance between asteroids is 500,000km
The cause of the Kirkwood gaps in the asteroid belt. - Answer- Gravitational interactions
(orbital resonances) with Jupiter, preventing asteroids from occupying certain orbits
The relative amount of total mass in the asteroid belt. - Answer- 4% of the mass of the
moon, .05% the mass of earth
Why comets are referred to as dirty ice balls. - Answer- Mixture of ice and rock/metal,
they represent some of the earliest building blocks of the outer planets (beyond the ice
line)
The average density of comets compared to ice and rock. - Answer- 600 kg/m^3, like
oatmeal as compared to 900 kg/m^3 for ice and 3000 kg/m^3 for rock
Why comets are referred to as rubble piles. - Answer- Collections of smaller objects
loosely held together by their small gravitational attractions
Why comets have tails - Answer- Solar radiation causes ices to vaporize (sublimate)
and stream out of the nucleus, carrying dust and gas away forming a gas and dust tails
The direction gas moves away from a comet to form a gas tail. - Answer- Compromised
of molecules ionized (charged) by ultraviolet light from the sun, causing it to emit blue
light
-pushed directly away from the sun by the solar wind (charges particles streaming from
the sun
, The direction dust moves away from a comet to form a dust tail. - Answer- Moved away
from the comet by pressure from sunlight, falls behind the motion of the comet,
separating it from the gas tail
When dust jets initiate - Answer- Sporadically and last for short time periods (Not sure
what initiates dust jets)
The main components of a primary atmosphere. - Answer- Hydrogen and Helium
Which planets have kept their primary atmospheres. - Answer- Gas Giants: Jupiter
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
The factors that influence the escape velocity of a planet. - Answer- Gravitational field..
greater mass of the planet- higher velocity. greater radius- lower velocity needed to
escape.
The planet with the highest escape velocity. - Answer- Jupiter (59.54)
The factors that influence the velocity of an atmospheric gas molecule. - Answer- Higher
temp-faster gas molecules move
Lighter atomic weight- faster gas molecules move
The combination of factors that lead to the fastest gas molecule velocities. - Answer-
High temperatures, low escape velocity, light molecular weight
The heaviest gas that should be retained by Mars' atmosphere. - Answer- Carbon
Dioxide
How Earth obtained most of the oxygen (O2) in its atmosphere. - Answer- Life
(microbes) converted CO2 into O2
The major differences between the atmospheres of Earth and Venus. - Answer- Venus
is 96% CO2 (carbon dioxide), 3% N2 and 90 atm.
Earth is 78%N2 (nitrogen), 21% O2 (oxygen
Venus has a surface temp. of 465 C & Sulfuric Acid clouds
The major differences between the atmospheres of Venus and Mars. - Answer- Venus
is 15,000 times more dense than Mars
The ability of a low-density atmosphere to blow things around. - Answer- High winds
would not pick up objects bigger than grains of sand
The presence of dust devils active on Mars. - Answer- More than 1mil. occur each day
(100m wide and 20km high)
