Essential Cosmic Perspective
9th Edition
ISBN: 9780135795033
Author: Bennett
Publisher: PEARSON
expand_more
expand_more
format_list_bulleted
Textbook Question
Chapter 6, Problem 55EAP
What Are the Odds? The fact that all the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction is cited as support for the nebular hypothesis. Imagine that there’s a different hypothesis in which planets can be created orbiting the Sun in either direction. Under this hypothesis, what is the probability that eight planets would end up traveling in the same direction? (Hint: It’s the same as the probability of flip-ping a coin eight times and getting all heads, then multiplied by two since the planets could end up traveling in either direction.)
Expert Solution & Answer
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionStudents have asked these similar questions
Which is these facts is NOT explained by the nebular theory?
There are two main types of planets: terrestrial and jovian
Existance of comets and asteroids
Planets orbit in the same direction and plane
Number of planets of each type (4 terrestrial and 4 jovian)
Imagine that in the future, scientists plan on colonizing planets that orbit other stars. Based on your knowledge of the life cycle of stars, decide which type of star (High mass or Low mass) the planet should orbit that would allow for human life to safely live on that planet for the longest period of time.
Explain your answer using examples from the life cycle of each star.
If the solar nebula hypothesis is correct, do you think there are more planets in the Universe than stars? Why or why not?
Chapter 6 Solutions
Essential Cosmic Perspective
Ch. 6 - Prob. 1VSCCh. 6 - Prob. 2VSCCh. 6 - Prob. 3VSCCh. 6 - Prob. 1EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 2EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 3EAPCh. 6 - What are the basic differences between terrestrial...Ch. 6 - Prob. 5EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 6EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 7EAP
Ch. 6 - Describe the four categories of materials in the...Ch. 6 - Prob. 9EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 10EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 11EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 12EAPCh. 6 - What is the leading hypothesis for the Moon’s...Ch. 6 - Prob. 14EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 15EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 16EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 17EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 18EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 19EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 20EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 21EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 22EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 23EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 24EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 25EAPCh. 6 - The nebular theory holds that (a) our solar system...Ch. 6 - Prob. 27EAPCh. 6 - Which of the following did not occur during the...Ch. 6 - Prob. 29EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 30EAPCh. 6 - Leftover ice-rich planetesimals are called (a)...Ch. 6 - Prob. 32EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 33EAPCh. 6 - Prob. 34EAPCh. 6 - Group Discussion: Who Named the Planets? The names...Ch. 6 - Planetary Priorities. Suppose you were in charge...Ch. 6 - Explaining the Past. Test the nebular theory...Ch. 6 - Unanswered Questions. As discussed in this...Ch. 6 - Group Activity: A Cold Solar Nebula. The excess...Ch. 6 - True or False. Decide whether each statement is...Ch. 6 - Planetary Tour. Based on the brief planetary tour...Ch. 6 - Patterns of Motion. In one or two paragraphs,...Ch. 6 - Solar System Trends. Study the planetary data in...Ch. 6 - 42. Two Kinds of Planets. The jovian planets...Ch. 6 - An Early Solar Wind. Suppose the solar wind had...Ch. 6 - History of the Elements. Our bodies (arid most...Ch. 6 - Rocks from Other Solar Systems. Many leftovers’...Ch. 6 - Current Spacecraft Mission. Find a list of current...Ch. 6 - Prob. 50EAPCh. 6 - Lucky to Be Here? Considering the overall process...Ch. 6 - Radiometric Dating. You are dating rocks by their...Ch. 6 - Lunar Rocks. You are dating Moon rocks based on...Ch. 6 - Carbon-14 Dating. The half-life of carbori-14 s...Ch. 6 - What Are the Odds? The fact that all the planets...
Knowledge Booster
Learn more about
Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, physics and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.Similar questions
- Describe the solar nebula, and outline the sequence of events within the nebula that gave rise to the planetesimals.arrow_forwardDescribe the Nebular Theory. Include A) what it is, B)what happened, and C) at least three lines of evidence to support it.arrow_forwardGiven what you've learned about the solar nebula idea, what do you believe the likelihood is of discovering livable planets in other solar systems? Learn more about this search by visiting NASA's Kepler mission and writing a half-page overview of the project.arrow_forward
- Question #4: According to the nebular theory, which planet is most likely to be gaseous rather than rocky? A. Venus, because it is the warmest planet and so is more likely to be gaseous B. Mercury, because planets closer to the solar nebula are more likely to be made of gas, like the nebula C. Earth, because the atmosphere consists of nitrogen, oxygen, and other gases, so it is a gaseous planet D. Neptune, because as the planets get farther from the solar nebula, their composition is more icy and gaseous e Education TM Inc. RK12arrow_forwardAt present there are 8 planets in the solar system. In the early models, there were only 6 planets. What is the reason behind this? Describe a model of the modern solar system in terms of the number of planets, their arrangement and the model’s center.arrow_forwardIn Table 2, there is a list of 15 planets, some of which are real objects discovered by the Kepler space telescope, and some are hypothetical planets. For each one, you are provided the temperature of the star that each planet orbits in degrees Kelvin (K), the distance that each planet orbits from their star in astronomical units (AUs) and the size or radius of each planet in Earth radii (RE). Since we are concerned with finding Earth-like planets, we will assume that the composition of these planets are similar to Earth's, so we will not directly look at their masses, rather their sizes (radii) along with the other characteristics. Determine which of these 15 planets meets our criteria of a planet that could possibly support Earth-like life. Use the Habitable Planet Classification Flow Chart (below) to complete Table 2. Whenever the individual value you are looking at falls within the range of values specified on the flow chart, mark the cell to the right of the value with a Y for…arrow_forward
- How does the solar nebula theory explain the orbits of the major planets? Dwarf planets? Does it explain the rotations of the planets? Why or why not?arrow_forwardEarlier in this chapter, we modeled the solar system with Earth at a distance of about one city block from the Sun. If you were to make a model of the distances in the solar system to match your height, with the Sun at the top of your head and Pluto at your feet, which planet would be near your waist? How far down would the zone of the terrestrial planets reach?arrow_forwardWe think the terrestrial planets formed around solid “seeds” that later grew over time through the accretion of rocks and metals. a) Suppose the Earth grew to its present size in 1 million years through the accretion of particles averaging 100 grams each. On average, how many particles did the Earth capture per second, given that the mass of the Earth is = 5.972 × 10 ^24 kg ? b) If you stood on Earth during its formation and watched a region covering 100 m^2, how many impacts would you expect to see in one hour. Use the impact rate you calculated in part a. You’ll need the following as well: the radius of the Earth is = 6.371 × 10 ^6 m and the surface area of the Earth is 4??^2Eartharrow_forward
- If you could visit another planetary system while the planets are forming, would you expect to see the condensation sequence at work, or do you think that process was most likely unique to our Solar System? How do the properties of the extrasolar planets discovered so far affect your answer? Do you expect the most planetary system in the Universe have analogs to our Solar System’s asteroid belt and Kuiper Belt? Would all planetary systems show signs of an age of heavy bombardment? If the solar nebula hypothesis is correct, do you think there are more planets in the Universe than stars? Why or why not?arrow_forwardExplain how the terrestrial planets and the Jovian planets ended up so different.arrow_forwardKepler-444 is one of many stars with terrestrial planets that is over 10 billion a) What do you think the spectral type of Kepler-444 might be? b) How do stars of this spectral type end their lives? c) If evolution followed a similar course on a habitable pranet around a star similar to Kepler-444, it would be 5 billion years more advanced than we are. Let’s try to project our future and see what happens. In particular, suppose our civilization gets motivated enough to colonize another planet. Kepler indicates that most stars have potentially habitable (and colonizable) planets, so roughly how far away is the typical “nearest" planet? d) The New Horizons probe on its way to Pluto took 9 years to travel 30 AU. If we could send colony ships with the same average speed, roughly how long would it take to reach the typical nearest planet? уears old.arrow_forward
arrow_back_ios
SEE MORE QUESTIONS
arrow_forward_ios
Recommended textbooks for you
- AstronomyPhysicsISBN:9781938168284Author:Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. WolffPublisher:OpenStaxFoundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)PhysicsISBN:9781337399920Author:Michael A. Seeds, Dana BackmanPublisher:Cengage Learning
- An Introduction to Physical SciencePhysicsISBN:9781305079137Author:James Shipman, Jerry D. Wilson, Charles A. Higgins, Omar TorresPublisher:Cengage Learning
Astronomy
Physics
ISBN:9781938168284
Author:Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher:OpenStax
Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)
Physics
ISBN:9781337399920
Author:Michael A. Seeds, Dana Backman
Publisher:Cengage Learning
An Introduction to Physical Science
Physics
ISBN:9781305079137
Author:James Shipman, Jerry D. Wilson, Charles A. Higgins, Omar Torres
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Kepler's Three Laws Explained; Author: PhysicsHigh;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyR6EO_RMKE;License: Standard YouTube License, CC-BY