Exam Question

• Complete these steps (8 marks):

• Find the surface gravity on the Earth’s surface.
• Find the surface gravity on the Moon’s surface
• Explain why they are different values
• State an Assumption in your calculation

• 𝒆 𝟐𝟒

• 𝒎 𝟐𝟐

• G = 6.67 x 10-11 N m2 kg−2

• 𝒆
𝑮𝑴
• 𝒎 g=
𝑹𝟐
 Example Answer
𝟏𝟏 𝟐𝟒
• gE = 𝟔 𝟐 (2)

(𝟔.𝟔𝟕×𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟏 )×(𝟕.𝟑×𝟏𝟎𝟐𝟐 )
• gM = (𝟏.𝟕×𝟏𝟎𝟔 )𝟐
𝟐
(2)

• Despite the radial distance being 4 times greater for the Earth’s value [which gets squared]
(1) The Earth is roughly 80 times more massive (1) which makes a bigger contribution (1)

• Assumptions: Radius is an average/perfectly spherical/G has a large uncertaint/etc…. (1)

 Exam Question
• Complete these steps (6 marks):
• Calculate the surface gravity at the North Pole
• Calculate again for the equator
• Explain why they are different values
• An Assumption/Limitation
𝑮𝑴
•g=
𝑹𝟐
•Rcentre-to-pole = 6357km
•Rcentre-to-equator = 6378km
• 𝒆
•G = 6.67 x 10-11 N m2 kg−2
 Example Answer
𝟏𝟏 𝟐𝟒
• gpole = 𝟔 𝟐 (2)
𝟏𝟏 𝟐𝟒
• gequator = 𝟔 𝟐 (2)

• Pole is slightly further away (1)

• Comment on:
• Accuracy of values (1)
• Gravitational constant uncertainty (1)
• Differentiation in surface level (1)
 Exam Question
• If you climb Mount Everest, you will be 8,848m above sea level. What is the
acceleration due to gravity at this point? Interpret/Explain your result (6 marks)

 𝟐 , g= 𝟐

 Re = mean radius of Earth = 6,371 km

•
• G = 6.67 x 10-11 N m2 kg−2
 Example Answer
g = 𝟐

𝟏𝟏 𝟐𝟒
g = 𝟔 𝟐

 g = 9.78 ms-2
 Exam Question
a) Calculate the acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the moon
b) The lunar rover has a mass of 225kg. What is its weight on the Earth and on the moon?
(5 marks)

•
• Mm = 7.35 x 1022 kg
• Rm = Radius of the moon = 1.74 x 106 m
• G = 6.67 x 10-11 N m2 kg−2
 Example Answer
( . × )×( . × )
• For the moon:
( . × )

b)On Earth, the rover’s weight = 225kg x 9.81ms-2 = 2210 N

On the moon = 225kg x 1.62ms-2 = 365 N
 Exam Question
After landing on Mars, an astronaut performs a simple experiment by dropping a rock. A quick
calculation using the drop height and the time of fall yields a value of 3.73m/s2 for the rock’s
acceleration. (6 marks)
a) Find the mass of Mars, given its radius RM = 3.39 x 106 m
b) What is the acceleration due to Mars at a distance 2RM from the centre of the planet?
𝐌

𝐦𝐌
𝐫𝟐

𝐆𝐌
𝐫𝟐

G 𝟏𝟏 N m2 kg−2
 Example Answer
a) and =
. ×( . × )
MM = 𝟐𝟑
. ×

b) Newton’s law of gravitation with r = 2RM. And using

=
( )

𝟐
( )
 Exam Question𝟐
Use ME = with the values we’ve looked at to find the mass of the Earth.
𝑬

Use this value to find the average density of the Earth (4 marks)

• g = 9.81 ms-2
• G= N m2 kg−2.
• RE = 6.37 x 106 m
• Volume of a sphere =
 Example Answer
ME =

. ×
×( . × )

Average density of the Earth = 5.53g/cm3

 Astronomy
•…We don’t have much time left… *sad noises* (or cheering)
• We have to look at celestial bodies more
 Example Exam Question
Describe how the Venus transit was used to convert Astronomical
Units into kilometers/find the distance to the Sun (8 marks)
 Example Answer
Parallax (1) transit observed from two different places on Earth at same time (1) Two paths of
Venus observed to move across sun (1) Angular diameter of sun from earth can be measured
(1) Angular diameter of distance between transits can be found by proportioning how much of
the sun it takes up (2) Modern-day we could use Photoshop (1) Superimpose using sunspots (1)
The angular diameter observed from Venus can be estimated by dividing the angle by 0.7 AU
(1) Arc length from two destinations can be found (1) From google maps or an expedition (1)
Radius of Earth has a known value (1) thanks to Eratosthenes (1) Using circle geometry, we can
find the distance through earth between two locations (1) Assuming one location is almost
directly beneath Sun and Venus at this time, we can assume a right-angled triangle (2) Using
trigonometry we can find distance to Venus (1) We can then proportion this to find the distance
to the Sun from Earth (1) Roughly 150,000,000km (1)
 Terrestrial Planets
• Can you name them?

• Terrestrial definition:
• Relating to the earth, of or on dry land.
 Terrestrial Planets
• Mercury
• Venus
• Earth
• Mars
 Terrestrial Planets
• Size and structure similar to Earth’s
 Terrestrial Planets
• But really, they’re not similar at all…
 Terrestrial Planets – Simplified
• Mercury – Small, grey, unatmospheric rock
• Venus – Hot, cloudy atmospheric hellhole
• Earth – Oceanic, green, ice capped, full of life. Giant moon
• Mars – Red desert wasteland with two tiny moons.
 Mercury
What do you know about Mercury?
 Mercury (1)
•≈ of Earth’s radius

• 2,440km

•≈ of Earth’s mass

• 3.3 x 1023 kg
 Mercury (2)
• Named after Roman deity - Messenger of the Gods
•Because it moves in the sky faster than any other planet

• Has no moon(s)
 Mercury’s Temperatures
• Surface temperatures at equator: 427o C (700K)
• Nighttime temperatures: -173o C (100K)
• Biggest fluctuation in solar system!

• Why so extreme?
 Mercury’s Atmosphere
• Extremely thin atmosphere:
•Cannot moderate inflow of sunlight in day
•Cannot retain heat at night
 Mercury’s Atmosphere
Why does it have basically no atmosphere?
◦(Surface directly exposed to outer space)
 Mercury’s Atmosphere
• Too small. Low gravitational force to retain gas around it
• Near sun. High temperature: molecules move fast and escape easily
• No plate tectonics/volcanoes
 Moon’s (Lack of) Atmosphere
• Similar reasons to Mercury
• Further from sun, but gravity still too weak
 Interesting Note – CO2 Release
• Volcanoes –271 million tons
• Natural release events on Earth - 645 million tons
• Human contribution – 29 billion
 Mercury’s Axial Tilt
• Tiny at 0.1o
• Smallest in solar system
 Mercury’s Poles
• Extremely cold
• Sun shines indirectly
• No atmosphere to distribute warmth
 Ice on Mercury?!
• Water ice postulated to exist there (from Comets colliding)
• In the bottom of deep craters (Temperatures don’t exceed -170o C)
 Mercury’s Orbit
• Orbital period: 87.97 days
• Rotate on own axis: 58.65 days
• Ratio ≈

• What happens?
 Mercury’s Orbit
• It spins exactly three times for each two trips it makes around the sun
• After one orbit, it’s spun 1.5 times
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFE-N6uV2Pw
 Mercury’s Solar Day
• Extremely long: From sunrise to next sunrise: 176 days
 Mercury’s Eccentricity
• Most eccentric of any planet in solar system Planet Orbital Eccentricity
Mercury 0.206
Venus 0.007
Earth 0.017
Mars 0.093
Jupiter 0.048
Saturn 0.056
Uranus 0.047
Neptune 0.009
Pluto 0.248
 Venus’ Eccentricity
• Least eccentric of any planet in solar system Planet Orbital Eccentricity
Mercury 0.206
Venus 0.007
Earth 0.017
Mars 0.093
Jupiter 0.048
Saturn 0.056
Uranus 0.047
Neptune 0.009
Pluto 0.248
 Eris’ Eccentricity
• 0.441
• Very ‘elliptical’
 Mercury’s Craters
• Has craters, similar to the Moon’s
• Largest: Caloris Basin (1300km). Formed 3.9 billion years ago
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyVwfWjsWfM
 Moon’s Craters
• Caused by impacts from comets and asteroids
 Moon’s Rays
• Material from impacts sprayed over huge distances
• Moon dust – The Regolith
 Moon’s Maria (Seas)
• Large, dark, basaltic plains formed by ancient volcanic eruptions
• Cover 16% of surface. Mostly on visible side to Earth
 Mercury – No Maria
• Smooth plains of Mercury have the same albedo as older inter-crater plains.
Mercury (left) vs Moon’s core (right)
 Mercury (left) vs Moon’s core (right)
• Moon: Small iron core. Large mantle (poor in iron). Crust
• Mercury: Huge iron core. Small silicate mantle. Crust
 Exam Question
• Compare and contrast the Earth’s moon and Mercury (7 marks)
 Example Answer
• Both have craters on their surface (1) But the moon has maria, darker regions
with lower albedo (1) Mercury is larger by the moon (1) Mercury has phases,
similar to the moon (1) Mercury has an iron core which is a huge proportion of its
mass/size (1) Both lack a tangible atmosphere (1) Reasons (1) Mercury has a much
higher surface temperature in the day (1) Compared days/orbital periods (2) Axial
tilt of mercury is tiny (1) Sunrise to next sunrise long time (1) Other….
 Mars
•What do you know about the red planet?
 Mars’ Name
• Named after the Roman God of War
 Mars vs Earth
•≈ of Earth’s radius

• 3,390 km

•≈ of Earth’s mass

• 6.9 x 1023 kg
 Mars vs Earth
• Temperature at equator in day: 10oC (293K)
• Low of -153oC (120K) at poles
• Polar ice caps present!
• Average -27oC
• (Earth: 14oC)
 Mars vs Earth
• Tilt of 25.0o
• Day: 24 hours, 37 minutes
• Year: 687 Earth Days
• Gravity: 0.375 that of Earth
• 1.5 AU from Sun
Martian Polar Ice Caps (Dry Ice)
 Mariner Spacecraft Discovery
• Valles Marineris – Grand Canyon of Mars
• 5000km long
• USA Grand Canyon - 446 km
 Martian Landscape
• Deserts, dune and volcanic peaks
• Tharsis bulge - Uplands
Olympus Mons
• Peak which rises 2.5 times higher than Mount Everest
• Tallest planetary mountain in solar system
 Olympus Mons – Formations (Alleged)
• Hot material rose from interior or planet and forced surface upward (erupted)
• Evidence for former plate tectonic activity?
 Channels/ Dry river beds (Viking spacecraft)
• Contain ‘islands’
• Liquid water once flowed on mars? Huge lakes? Small oceans?
 Mars
• We’ve had Many successful landings on Mars!
Martian Atmosphere
 Martian Atmosphere
• 95% CO2
• About 1% density of Earth’s
• Verified by spacecrafts

• What does this mean?

 Martian Atmosphere
• Weak greenhouse effect
• Lack of heat trapping
• Night temperatures plummet (-55oC Avg)
• Water to exist only as subsurface ice?
 Martian Weather
•No rainfall
• Atmosphere too cold/contains little water
• Craters still present and not eroded by flows
• For 3 billion years!
 Water Still Present on Mars?
• Only if it condensed under previous atmosphere and froze as ice sheets
• Then if wind buried ice under protective dust
 Or has it melted?
• Evidence suggests it melted and drained away.
• Causing canyons and fractured terrain
 Mars’ Atmosphere
• How did it disappear?
 Theories
• Struck by a huge asteroid?
• Blasted atmosphere into space

• Low Gravity?
• Molecules escaped easily over first billion years
 Mars’ Previous Atmosphere
• Apparently used to be must bigger. How do we know?
 Mars’ Previous Atmosphere
• Water once flowed freely (Channels)
• That is the evidence!
 To have liquid water…
• Warm atmosphere and pressure similar to Earth
• This prevents easy evaporation
• Remember: Water boils at 100oC on Earth

• On mars now, water would evaporate quickly

 The Tiny Moons of Mars!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw0IZg7_4mo
 Example Exam Question
Describe the planet ‘Mars’ (6 marks)
 Example Answer
Fourth planet from the sun (1) Polar ice caps present (1) Equator temperature reaches 10oC (1)
1.5 AU from Sun (1) Two small moons: Deimos and Phobos (1) Atmosphere 1% the thickness
of Earth’s (1) Consists of 96% carbon dioxide (1) Channels are present, which point towards it
previously having lakes/rivers/flowing water (1) Evidence of previous tectonic activity (1) many
successful spacecraft landings on Mars (1) 1.5 AU from Sun (1) Time to rotate on axis is 24
hours and 37 minutes (1) Year is 687 Days (1) Tilt is 25.0o (1) No rainfall (1) Previously greater
atmosphere (1) Dimensions (1) And much much more!
 Seasons of Mars
• Mars has seasons….
 Seasons of Earth
• But we should really look at Earth’s first….
 Seasons of Thailand
• We’re in the Tropics
• Not much variation
 Arctic Zones of Earth
• Typically just cold
 Temperate Areas of Earth
• We’ll focus mostly on the Temperate areas
• What happens here?
 Temperate Areas of Earth
• Four Seasons (Think USA/UK)
 Zones of Earth
• Can be divided further…
• E.g subtropical zones (South Korea, Japan, Taiwan?)
 Important Lines
• Equator
• Tropic of Cancer
• Tropic of Capricorn
 Seasons
• What two things ultimately causes seasons?
(noticed most clearly in temperate zones)
 NOT: Perihelion and Aphelion
• NOT how far the Earth is from Sun
 What Ultimately Causes Seasons
1. The Earth’s Tilt
2. The angle sunlight hits the Earth
 Sunlight and Angles (Simplified)
• Shallow angle – cold
• Steep angle – hot

• Can you explain this?

 Sunlight at the Poles
• At the poles, sunlight is spread over larger area (tilted away)
• Less direct sunlight, Lower intensity
 Sunlight Near Equator
• Near equator, sunlight is spread over smaller area (tilted away)
• More direct sunlight, Higher intensity
 Earth Around the Sun
• Let’s discuss the main parts which dictate seasons
 Equinox
• Explain clearly what this is
 Equinox
• Plane of the Earth’s equator extends directly through the sun’s centre
 Equinox
• Happens twice a year, on the Earth’s orbit
• 21st March
• 22nd September
 Equinox
• Northern and Southern Hemisphere: equally illuminated
 Solstice
• What’s this?
 Summer solstice (Northern Hemisphere)
• Longest day/shortest night for
Northern hemisphere

• Sunlight shines directly on the

tropic of cancer

• June 22nd
 Summer solstice (Northern Hemisphere)
• Sunlight shines directly on the
tropic of cancer

• June 22nd
 Summer solstice (Northern Hemisphere)
• ‘Steeper’ sunlight angle in the
summer for these countries

• More energy per square metre

 Winter Solstice (Northern Hemisphere)
• Sun shines directly on the tropic of Capricorn
• Winter for the norther hemisphere
•
 Winter Solstice (Northern Hemisphere)
• Lowest intensity
• December 20th
Over the year
 Outer Planets
• Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
 Jovian Planets
•‘Jovian’ - derived from Jupiter, first to be observed using a telescope
• The Roman king of the gods – Jupiter, or Jove
• (anything associated with Jupiter; a Jupiter-like planet.)
 Defining Features
• Composed primarily of hydrogen and helium gas
• Ring systems
• lack of a surface
 Jovian Planets
•Low temperatures allowed bodies condensing there to capture
hydrogen and hydrogen-rich gases (methane, ammonia, water…)
 Outer Planets
•These gases were far more abundant than silicates and iron rich material in the
early solar system (from which the terrestrial planets condensed)
 Outer Planets
• More material available for growth
 Outer Planets
• More material available for growth
 Outer Planets
• Composed of gaseous and liquid hydrogen
Gas Giants vs Ice Giants
 Ice Giants – Neptune/Uranus
• Higher concentrations of methane and heavier elements
• Oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur – in their interior.
 Ice Giants – Neptune/Uranus
• Presence of this methane gives Uranus and Neptune their hazy blue color,
Other Stuff
• Comets
• Asteroids
• Meteoroids
• Meteors
• Meteorites
 Asteroids
• Small, rocky body orbiting sun
• (small compared to planets)
 Asteroids
•Typically located in Asteroid belt
 Meteoroid
• A small particle from a comet or asteroid orbiting the Sun
• space debris bigger than a molecule and smaller than about 100m
 Meteors – Shooting Star
• If a meteoroid comes close enough to Earth and enters Earth’s atmosphere, it
vaporizes and turns into a meteor: a streak of light in the sky.
 Meteors – Shooting Star
• Refers to the light phenomena
 Meteorites – Falling Star
• A meteoroid that survives its passage through the Earth's atmosphere and lands
upon the Earth's surface.
 Comets
• A small object whose ices can vaporize in sunlight forming an atmosphere
(coma) of dust and gas and, sometimes, a tail of dust and/or gas.
 Comets
• From outer parts of solar system (Kuiper belt and Oort cloud)