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Protoplanet Hypothesis

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The Solar System is complex. It is unknown to scientists how the Solar System originally began, but there are many hypotheses that suggest the start of the Solar System. Three common suggestions to the beginning of our Solar System includes, the Nebular hypothesis, Protoplanet hypothesis, and Planetesimal hypothesis. The Nebular hypothesis was proposed by Pierre-Simon de Laplace. He used forces such as Law of Conservation of Angular Movement, and centrifugal forces to describe his hypothesis. The Protoplanet hypothesis was proposed by Carl von Weizsäcker and Gerard Kuiper. The Planetesimal hypothesis was proposed by Forest Moulton and Thomas Chamberlin.
The Nebular hypothesis began as a cloud. The cloud starts to compact as it cools. The Law …show more content…

The cloud would spin around space. A nearby star had exploded causing the cloud to shrink. A mass formed in the middle of gas. The mass became known as the Sun. Gas and clouds around the Sun created whirlpools. As the whirlpools spun it created masses around the Sun. This became known as the planets, which created the Solar System.
Very different from the Nebular and Protoplanet hypothesis, the Planetesimal hypothesis suggested that the Sun was already there. The Sun attracted a nearby star. As the star passed by it pulled off pieces of the Sun. The pieces that were pulled off of the Sun orbited around the Sun. These pieces collided and over time became spheres that orbited around the Sun, creating our Solar System.
Problems with the Nebular hypothesis include it would take an immense amount of gravity to turn the rings of matter into the spheres of planets. Also the most mass in the Solar System is the Sun, but it only contains a small amount of the friction of the angular momentum. Last the most massive part of the Solar System should rotate the fastest, but in our Solar System the planets rotate the fastest. The Nebular hypothesis suggest that the planets rotate slower than the …show more content…

Also, where did the friction come from? Problems with the Planetesimal hypothesis include the assumption the star would have to be the star would have to be the same size of the Sun. The star would have to be larger than the Sun to pull off pieces of the Sun, but the Sun could not be larger than the Sun or else it would have attracted the Sun, not the Sun attracted the star. Also, if the Sun is mostly hydrogen and helium based how are there terrestrial planets?
All three hypotheses have in common the fact they all eventually form the Solar System. Also, they all contain gravity. The Nebular and Protoplanet hypothesis have in common that they both began with spinning clouds. Also, they both have clouds that shrink, compact, and spin. The Nebular and Planetesimal hypothesis both have in common that they both orbit the solar system. Also, both were affected by gravitational pools. Last the Planetesimal and Protoplanet hypothesis both involve a star, and both compact. Also, they both have interesting movement

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