Planetary Interiors
What is Earth's Inner Core composed of?
Iron and nickel.
How do planets form an atmosphere?
Volcanic outgassing
What is the greenhouse effect?
A natural effect in which greenhouse gasses in Earth's atmosphere trap heat and warm the Earth.
What are the three states of matter than water can exist in?
Solid (ice), liquid (water), and gas (water vapor)
Why does Earth's interior separate into different layers?
Density.
Which planet in the solar system has the largest volcano?
Mars.
Which of the four molecules is NOT a greenhouse gas?
CO2
NO2
CH4
O3
NO2
What is the name of the region in space where the distance a planet is from its star allows for liquid water to be stable on the planet's surface?
The Habitable Zone.
How do we know that there are different layers inside the Earth?
By observing seismic waves.
Below are a list of gasses. Which of the three would you most expect to find outgassing from a volcano?
Water Vapor (H2O)
Sulfur Compounds (SO2 and H2S)
Nitrogen Compounds (N2 and NO2)
Oxygen (O2)
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Methane (CH4)
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Water vapor (H2O)
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Sulfur Compounds (SO2 and H2S)
What would happen to the Moon's surface temperature if we were to magically give it an atmosphere exactly the same as Earth's?
The Moon's average surface temperature would increase and temperatures would be regulated between day and night.
What is the evidence we have for the past existence of liquid water on the surface of Mars?
Presence of river features, deltas and hydrated minerals.
The Earth has 4 main layers. Here are three of these layers: Crust, Inner Core, and Outer Core. Which layer of the Earth is missing from this list?
The mantle.
We know Mars used to have a thicker atmosphere than today. What changed to make the atmosphere much thinner?
As volcanic eruptions stopped on Mars, the planet started to lose its atmosphere to space. The loss of CO2 and other greenhouse gases caused the temperature of the surface to decrease and liquid water was no longer stable.
What are the main takeaways from this figure depicting the daily surface temperature on the Moon vs the Earth?
Larger daily range of temperatures on the moon than on Earth – this happens because the moon doesn’t have an atmosphere
Cooler average temperature on the moon than on Earth – this happens because the moon doesn’t have greenhouse gases
How could a planet have liquid water if it exists outside of the habitable zone?
Has a warm enough atmosphere/greenhouse gases