QUIZ 2: FORMATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Name: ________________________________________ Sec: ______________

I. Choose the letter of the best answer. Use UPPERCASE LETTERS ONLY.

_____1. The age of our solar system is approximately

A) 10,000 years. B) 3.8 million years. C) 4.6 million years. D) 4.6 billion years.
_____2. The process by which an originally homogeneous Earth developed a dense core and a light crust is called:
A. Metamorphism B. differentiation C. accretion D. compression
_____3. Why did the solar nebula flatten into a disk?
A) The interstellar cloud from which the solar nebula formed was originally somewhat flat.
B) The force of gravity from the Sun pulled the material downward into a flat disk.
C) As the nebula cooled, the gas and dust settled onto a disk.
D) It flattened as a natural consequence of collisions between particles in the spinning nebula, changing random
motions into more orderly ones.
E) The force of gravity from the planets pulled the material downward into a flat disk.
_____4. In essence, the nebular theory holds that
A) our solar system formed from the collapse of an interstellar cloud of gas and dust.
B) nebulae are clouds of gas and dust in space.
C) the planets each formed from the collapse of its own separate nebula.
D) the nebular theory is a discarded idea that imagined planets forming as a result of a near-collision between our Sun
and another star.
_____5. The __________ suggests that the bodies of the solar system evolved from an enormous rotating cloud composed
mostly of hydrogen and __________.
A. protoplanet model; silicon C. nebular hypothesis; helium
B. nebular hypothesis; oxygen D. planetary theory; helium
_____6. What is the fat bulging disk from which planets were believed to have formed?
A. protoplanet disk B. white dwarf disk C. accretion disk D. red giant disk
_____7. What is the correct order of planets from the sun, nearest to farthest?
A. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus
B. Venus, Mercury, Mars, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
C. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus
D. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
_____8. In the Copernican theory, day and night are accounted for by
A) the rotation of the Earth. C) the rotation of the celestial sphere.
B) the revolution of the Sun about the Earth. D) the revolution of the Earth about the Sun.
_____9. Ptolemy and Copernicus both
A) believed the Sun went around the Earth. C) used uniform circular motion to explain planetary motion.
B) believed Mars would look faintest when at opposition. D) believed the Earth went around the Sun.
_____10. Which of the following is true of our solar system?
A.. Not all known planets orbit in the same direction around the sun.
B. Not all planets spin in the same direction as they orbit.
C. It has an equal number of stars and planets.
D. There is no evidence for liquid water having ever existed on any planet other than Earth.

II. Determine under which hypothesis do the concepts belong to. Write NEBULAR, ENCOUNTER, or
PROTOPLANET. Write your answers under column B.

1. Rotating gaseous cloud that cools and contracts

2. A star bigger than the Sun passed by the Sun
3. Formation of protoplanets
 4. Planets formed from debris of the collision of sun and other star.
5. Planetary differentiation when heavy materials sink toward its center and light
materials accumulate near the surface.

III. Write A if the statement is true and B if it is false.

_____1. Earth is the densest planet and Mercury is the 2nd densest planet inside the solar system.
_____2. All the planets in the solar system rotate in the same direction as they orbit the Sun.
_____3. As viewed from above Earth's North Pole, all of the planets orbit the Sun in the same (counterclockwise)
direction.
_____4. The more massive planets in the solar system tend to be less dense than the lower mass planets.
_____5. Based on our theory of how our own solar system formed, we would expect that other solar systems would
be quite common.
_____6. Nebular theory predicts that other solar systems that formed in the same way should also have 8 planets.
_____7. The inner planets rotate slower and have higher densities.
_____8. The outer planets consists mostly of gases and are known to have thicker atmosphere.
_____9. The orbits of the planets are circular.
_____10. All planets rotate around the Sun.

IV. ENUMERATION:

A. Terrestrial planets
1. _______________________ 3. ______________________________
2. _______________________ 4. ______________________________

B. Gas giant planets

1. _______________________ 3. ___________________ 5. _________________
2. _______________________ 4. ___________________

C. Known protoplanets as of today

1. _______________________ 2. ___________________ 3. _________________

V. ESSAY:
1. Process of Science: Now that Pluto is no longer considered a planet, the number if planets in the Solar System has
dropped from 9 to 8. Does this mean that the protoplanet theory of the Solar System was incorrect?

2. Discuss at least two recent information on the solar system.