Solar System Formation Quiz

If an interstellar gas cloud shrinks in size, what does the law of conservation of energy predict it will do?

• continue shrinking

• spin faster

• heat up

• spin slower

• cool off

The frost line of the solar system was located approximately between

• the present-day orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

• the present-day orbits of Uranus and Neptune.

• the Sun and the present-day orbit of Mercury.

• the present-day orbits of Venus and Earth.

• the present-day orbits of Mercury and Venus.

According to our theory of solar system formation, which law best explains why the solar nebula spun faster as it shrank in size?

• the law of conservation of angular momentum

• Einstein's law that E = mc2

• Kepler's first law of planetary motion

• the law of universal gravitation

The age of our solar system is approximately

• 3.8 million years.

• 14 billion years.

• 4.5 billion years.

• 10,000 years.

• 4.5 million years.

Which of the following is NOT a pattern of motion in our Solar System?

• Almost all large moons orbit their planet in the same direction as the planet's rotation.

• Most planetary orbits lie in the same plane.

• Most planets orbit in the same direction.

• Most planets rotate in the same direction they orbit.

• The planets orbit the Sun in a direction opposite that of the Sun's rotation.

What is the giant impact hypothesis for the origin of the Moon?

• The Moon originally was about the same size as Earth, but a giant impact blasted most of it away so that it ended up much smaller than Earth.

• The Moon formed just like Earth, from accretion in the solar nebula.

• The Moon formed when two gigantic asteroids collided with one another.

The nebular theory holds that

• our solar system formed from the collapse of an interstellar cloud of gas and dust.

• the planets formed as a result of a near-collision between our Sun and another star.

• each planet formed from the collapse of its own separate nebula.

Which of the following is most important in causing a cloud of gas to collapse to form a star and planets?

• Gravity pulls all the gas inward.

• Pressure from light from nearby stars pushes the gas inward.

• Pressure from other gas clouds pushes the gas inward.

• Some gas is sent outward, causing the rest to move inward to conserve momentum.

• Opposite charges in the gas attract.

Why did the solar nebula heat up as it collapsed?

• The shock wave from a nearby supernova heated the gas.

• Collisions among planetesimals generated friction and heat.

• Nuclear fusion occurring in the core of the forming Sun produced energy that heated the nebula.

• It was heated by radiation from nearby stars.

Which of the following ingredients was least abundant in the solar nebula?

• hydrogen compounds

• hydrogen

• helium

• metal

• rock