EBK THE COSMIC PERSPECTIVE
9th Edition
ISBN: 9780135161753
Author: Voit
Publisher: VST
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Chapter 9, Problem 17EAP
Surprising Discoveries?
Suppose we were to make the following discoveries. (These are not real discoveries.) In ligh of your understanding of planetary geology, decide whether the discovery should be considered reasonable or surprising. (In some cases, both view can be defended.) Explain your answer, if possible tracing your logic back to the terrestrial worlds' fundamental properties of size, distance from the Sun, and rotation rate.
17. New photographs reveal sand dunes on Mercury.
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Planetary scientists are hoping that the samples collected by the Perseverance Mars rover will eventually be collected by other robotic spacecraft and returned to Earth. Even if Perseverance could collect samples from all over Mars's surface, why wouldn't this tell us what the entire planet is made of?
Group of answer choices
The deep interior of Mars has had its composition altered (compared to the surface) by the impacts of asteroids that plunged almost all the way down to Mars's center.
Since Mars has a powerful magnetic field, it must have a liquid-iron portion of its core, and this material can't be collected by a rover on the surface.
Early in its history, Mars differentiated into layers of materials that had different densities, much like the Earth did.
Mars has such a low density that most of its interior must be made of liquid water and ice, so rocks from the surface simply won't be representative of the deep interior.
How many impacts would you expect to strike a 100m2 region in one hour during Earth’s formation, assuming that Earth grew to its present size in 10 million years from particles averaging 100 grams each? (Hint: Assume that Earth had its current radius of 6378km.) (Notes: The surface area of a sphere is 4pir2 ; 1yr=3.2x107 .)
a. About 1300.
b. About 13 .
c. About 13,000.
d. About 130
Which of the following planetary traits is well established?
choose one of the following:
a) Mercury has a similar compositon to that of our moon, in that they both have a substantial metal content.
b) Venus rotates more rapidly than Earth, but in the opposite direction.
c) Earth's atmosphere exhibits a slightly stronger greenhouse effect than that seen on Venus.
d)Astronomers have precisely calculated the mass of Mercury thanks to artificial satellites sent from Earth.
Chapter 9 Solutions
EBK THE COSMIC PERSPECTIVE
Ch. 9 - Prob. 1VSCCh. 9 - Use the following questions to check your...Ch. 9 - Use the following questions to check your...Ch. 9 - Use the following questions to check your...Ch. 9 - Describe the core-mantle-crust structures of the...Ch. 9 - Summarize the processes by which planetary...Ch. 9 - Why does Earth have a global magnetic field? Why...Ch. 9 - Define each of the four major geological...Ch. 9 - Prob. 5EAPCh. 9 - Why is the Moon so much more heavily cratered than...
Ch. 9 - Summarize the ways in which a terrestrial world’s...Ch. 9 - Briefly summarize the geological history of the...Ch. 9 - Briefly summarize the geological history of...Ch. 9 - Choose five features on the global map of Mars...Ch. 9 - Why isn’t liquid water stable on Mars today, and...Ch. 9 - Choose at least three major geological features of...Ch. 9 - What evidence tells us that Venus was “repaved”...Ch. 9 - Describe the conveyor-like action of plate...Ch. 9 - Briefly explain how each of the following...Ch. 9 - To what extent do we think the geologies of the...Ch. 9 - Surprising Discoveries? Suppose we were to make...Ch. 9 - Prob. 18EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 19EAPCh. 9 - Surprising Discoveries? Suppose we were to make...Ch. 9 - Prob. 21EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 22EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 23EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 24EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 25EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 26EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 27EAPCh. 9 - Surprising Discoveries? Suppose we were to make...Ch. 9 - Prob. 29EAPCh. 9 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 9 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 9 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 9 - Prob. 33EAPCh. 9 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 9 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 9 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 9 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 9 - Prob. 38EAPCh. 9 - Mars Attracts. William Herschel, Giovanni...Ch. 9 - Prob. 41EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 42EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 43EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 44EAPCh. 9 - Dating Planetary Surfaces. We have discussed two...Ch. 9 - Comparative Erosion. Of Mercury, Venus, the Moon,...Ch. 9 - Miniature Mars. Suppose Mars had turned out to be...Ch. 9 - Change in Fundamental Properties. Choose one...Ch. 9 - Predictive Geology. Suppose another star system...Ch. 9 - Mystery Planet. It’s the year 2098, and you are...Ch. 9 - “Coolest” Surface Photo. Visit the Astronomy...Ch. 9 - Surface AreatoVolume Ratio. Compare the surface...Ch. 9 - Doubling Your Size. Just as the surface...Ch. 9 - Lunar Footprints. Assume that the Moon is hit by...Ch. 9 - Geological Proportions. Express the approximate...Ch. 9 - Internal vs. External Heating. In daylight,...Ch. 9 - Prob. 60EAPCh. 9 - More Plate Tectonics. Consider a seafloor...
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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
- We believe that all of the terrestrial planets had similar histories when it comes to impacts from space. Explain how this idea can be used to date the formation of the martian highlands, the martian basins, and the Tharsis volcanoes. How certain are the ages derived for these features (in other words, how do we check the ages we derive from this method)?arrow_forwardFor which of the following reasons (select all that apply), is it useful/important to send rovers to other planetary bodies in our solar system? a. More direct probes of the planetary surface are possible to detect signs of the building blocks of life. b. Rovers/landers can be outfitted with various tools and equipment that can be used to inform of us of the geological histories of each of the planets they visit. c. Rock samples can be used to calibrate our estimations of the age of the solar system. d. The data collected can help improve our understanding of the evolution/development of our solar system. e. The engineering innovations developed to produce successful/viable rovers and landers on other planets can help lead to developments in the technology used here on Earth that may have taken far more time to develop without the limitations provided by space travel to foreign worlds.arrow_forwardWhy Wait? To explore a planet, we often send first a flyby, then an orbiter, then a probe or a lander. There’s no doubt that probes and landers give the most close-up detail, so why don’t we send this type of mission first? For the planet of your choice, based just on the information in this chap- ter, give an example of why such a strategy might cause a mission to provide incomplete information about the planet or to fail outright.arrow_forward
- CO2 and planetary warming: understanding Earth’s complicated atmosphere Mars has an atmospheric pressure of 6 mbar (compared with Earth atmosphere pressure of 1013 mbar), 96% of which is CO2. The average calculated temperature of Mars is -57°C, whereas the actual average temperature is -55°C so that the amount of warming due to CO2 is only 2°C. On the other hand, the average calculated temperature of Earth, with 0.4 mbar of CO2, is -19°C, whereas the actual average temperature is 15°C so that the amount of warming due to CO2 is 34°C, much greater than that on Mars, which has higher CO2 concentration. Explain how this is possible.arrow_forwardIf, in the remote future, we establish a base on Mercury, keeping track of time will be a challenge. Discuss how to define a year on Mercury, and the two ways to define a day. Can you come up with ways that humans raised on Earth might deal with time cycles on Mercury?arrow_forwardPretend you are a NASA executive or a legislator. Design a new mission in our solar system. Pick any object in the system and decide whether you want to send an orbiter, a lander, a rover, some combination or those, a manned mission, or something else. What interests you about this object? What science questions can we answer? In basic terms, what kind of scientific instruments might you want to include on your mission? Justify your decisions with what you know about the scientific method, astronomy techniques, and the object itself from this class.arrow_forward
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- Let's use Kepler's laws for the inner planets. Use the following distances from the sun to calculate the orbital period for each of these planets. Express your answer in terms of Earth years to two significant figures. Note: Use Kepler's law directly. Don't just Google the answers, as they will be a little bit different. When you have calculated them, only submit the value for Mercury. Planet Distance from the sun Period of orbit around the sun Earth 150 million km ___ Earth years Mercury 58 million km ___ Earth years Venus 108 million km ___ Earth years Mars 228 million km ___ Earth yearsarrow_forwardIf we moved Venus out to 1 AU from the Sun (same as Earth), Venus would probably a. become more like Earth, with oceans and a temperate climate b. remain hot, dry, and dead because it's permanently lost its oceans c. become more like Mars, losing most of its atmosphere and freezing d. become much less geologically active due to decreased solar heatingarrow_forwardWhat is the frost line in the solar nebula? Explain how temperature differences led to the formation of two distinct types of planets.arrow_forward
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