AT O M I C ST RUCT URE

1Basic composition of the

planets
G The i nner planets Mercury, Venus,
Earth, and Mars consi st of an
i ronni ckel core surrounded by a shell
of si li con and other elements.
G The outer planets Jupi ter, Saturn,
Uranus, and Neptune consi st largely
of soli d or li qui d methane, ammoni a,
li qui d hydrogen, and heli um.
G Pluto i snot i ncluded i n thi s
compari son because i t i satypi cal of
the other outer planets, and i tsori gi ns
are uncertai n.
2 Composition of Earth
G Earth consi stsof a dense, soli d i nner
core and a li qui d outer core of ni ckel
and i ron. The core i ssurrounded by
the mantle( a zone of dense, hot
rock) , and fi nally by the crust, whi ch i s
the surface of Earth.
G Si nce most of the materi alsof Earth
are i naccessi ble ( the deepest dri lled
holesonly penetrate a small di stance
i nto the crust) , we can only esti mate
the composi ti on of Earth by looki ng at
the composi ti on of the materi alsfrom
whi ch Earth formed. Meteori tes
provi de thi si nformati on.
G O xygen i sthe most common element
on Earth, and about one fi fth of
Earth satmospherei sgaseousoxygen.
G O xygen i salso present i n many
compounds, i ncludi ng water ( H
2
O ) ,
carbon di oxi de ( C O
2
) , and si li ca
( S i O
2
) , and metal saltssuch asoxides,
carbonates, nitrates, and sulfates.
Planet composition
atmosphere
carbonate
crust
mantle
nitrate
oxide
sulfate
Key words
11

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a M e rc u ry
b Ve n u s
c E a rth
d M a rs
e J u p i te r
f S a tu rn
g U ra n u s
h N e p tu n e
1Basic composition of the planets
a d
e
g h
i
j
k
l
m
n
b c
f
Composition %
of Earth
o xyg e n 4 6
si li co n 2 8
a lu m i n u m 8
i ro n 5
ca lc i u m 4
so d i u m 3
p o ta ssi u m 3
m a g n e si u m 2
Solid/ liquid water, methane, and ammonia
2 Composition of Earth
Liquid hydrogen and helium
Iron/nickel core shell of silicon and other elements
i c ru st
j m a n tle o xyg e n , si li co n , a lu m i n u m , i ro n )
k o u te r co re li q u i d n i c ke l a n d i ro n )
l i n n e r co re so li d n i c ke l a n d i ro n )
mc ru st, m a n tle , a n d o ce a n s =
2
/ 3 o f m a ss)
n co re =
1
/ 3 o f m a ss