Earth Science: Geology, the Environment, and the Universe

Section 2: The Terrestrial Planets

The Terrestrial Planets

1
The inner four planets of our solar system are called the __________ planets and the next four are called the __________ planets.
A)terrestrial, gas giant
B)rocky, gas-like
C)hard, soft
D)gas giant, terrestrial
2
Which planets in the figure have solid surfaces?
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A)9
B)5-8
C)1-4 and 9
D)1-4
3
Use the table to determine the largest terrestrial planet.
Planet Orbital Radius, a (AU) Planetary Radius, r (km) Planetary Mass, m (1024 kg)
Mercury0.3872439.70.3302
Venus 0.7236051.84.8685
Earth 1.06378.15.9736
Mars 1.52433970.64185
Jupiter5.20471 4921898.6
Saturn 9.58260 268568.46
Uranus 19.20125 55986.832
Neptune30.04724 764102.43
Pluto39.23611950.0125


A)Venus
B)Mars
C)Mercury
D)Earth
4
Why is Venus the hottest planet, even though it isn't the closest to the Sun?
A)it's greenhouse effect
B)it's high albedo
C)it's high atmospheric pressure
D)it surfuric acid rain
5
Why can't astronomers directly observe the surface of Venus without landing probes on the surface?
A)The surface is covered by thick clouds.
B)Venus has a high albedo.
C)Venus has a clockwise spin.
D)The surface is covered by thick ice sheets.
6
What is Olympus Mons?
A)a scarp on Mercury
B)a composite volcano on Venus
C)a large shield volcano on Mars
D)one of Mars' moons
7
The wobble in Earth's axis is called __________.
A)precession
B)tilt
C)eccentricity
D)seasons
8
Mercury's extremely slow spin causes only __________ days to pass in __________ of Mercury's years.
A)three, two
B)one, two hundred
C)one hundred, one
D)twenty-four, one
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