.

AME
#(!04%2

#LASS

$ATE

!&AMILYOF0LANETS

3%#4)/.

 4HE/UTER0LANETS
.ATIONAL3CIENCE
%DUCATION3TANDARDS

"%&/2%9/52%!$
!FTERYOUREADTHISSECTIONYOUSHOULDBEABLETOANSWER
THESEQUESTIONS

%3CAB

s 7HICHPLANETSAREKNOWNASTHEOUTERPLANETS
s7HATPROPERTIESDOTHEOUTERPLANETSSHARE

(OW!RETHE/UTER0LANETS$IFFERENTFROM
THE)NNER0LANETS
4HEOUTERPLANETSAREVERYLARGEANDAREMADEMOSTLYOF
GASES4HESEPLANETSARECALLEDGASGIANTS5NLIKETHEINNER
PLANETSTHEYHAVEVERYTHICKATMOSPHERESANDNOTVERY
MUCHHARDROCKYMATERIALONTHEIRSURFACES

345$94)0
#OMPARE )NYOURNOTEBOOK
CREATEACHARTSHOWINGTHE
SIMILARITIESANDDIFFERENCES
AMONGTHEOUTERPLANETS

7HICH0LANET)STHE"IGGEST
*UPITERISTHELARGESTPLANETINOURSOLARSYSTEM)TSMASS
ISTWICEASLARGEASTHEOTHEREIGHTPLANETSCOMBINED%VEN
THOUGHITISLARGE*UPITERSROTATIONTAKESLESSTHANHOURS
,IKETHESUN*UPITERISMADEMOSTLYOFHYDROGENAND
HELIUM*UPITERSATMOSPHEREALSOCONTAINSSMALLAMOUNTS
OFAMMONIAMETHANEANDWATER4HESEGASESFORM
CLOUDSINTHEOUTERPARTOF*UPITERSATMOSPHERE4HE
OUTERATMOSPHEREALSOCONTAINSSTORMSSUCHASTHE'REAT
2ED3POT4HISHUGESTORMISABOUTTIMESTHEDIAMETER
OF%ARTH)THASLASTEDFOROVERYEARS

$EEPERINTO*UPITERSATMOSPHERETHEPRESSUREISSOHIGH
THATHYDROGENTURNSTOLIQUID$EEPERSTILLTHEPRESSUREIS
EVENHIGHER"ECAUSEOFTHEHIGHPRESSURESTHEINSIDEOF
*UPITERISVERYHOT)TISSOHOTTHAT*UPITERPRODUCESMORE
HEATTHANITGETSFROMTHESUN
4HEINFORMATIONTHATSCIENTISTSHAVEABOUT*UPITERHAS
COMEFROMFIVESPACEMISSIONS0IONEER0IONEER
6OYAGER6OYAGERAND'ALILEO4HE6OYAGERPROBES
SHOWEDTHAT*UPITERHASATHINFAINTRING

2%!$).'#(%#+
 ,IST 'IVEFOURGASES
THATAREFOUNDIN*UPITERS
ATMOSPHERE

&ACTS!BOUT*UPITER
$ISTANCEFROMSUN

!5

0ERIODOFROTATION

HOURSMINUTES

0ERIODOFREVOLUTION

%ARTHYEARSDAYS

$IAMETER

KM

$ENSITY

GCM

3URFACEGRAVITY

OF%ARTHS

M:D>:EHHD
 )DENTIFY 7HICHOFTHE
FACTSINTHETABLECOULDYOU
USETOINFERTHAT*UPITERHASA
SHORTERDAYTHAN%ARTHDOES

#OPYRIGHTBY(OLT2INEHARTAND7INSTON!LLRIGHTSRESERVED

)NTERACTIVE4EXTBOOK



!&AMILYOF0LANETS

.AME
3%#4)/.

#LASS

$ATE

4HE/UTER0LANETSCONTINUED

7HAT!RE3ATURNS2INGS-ADE/F
3ATURNISTHESECOND LARGESTPLANETINTHESOLARSYSTEM
,IKE*UPITER3ATURNISMADEUPMOSTLYOFHYDROGENWITHSOME
HELIUMANDTRACESOFOTHERGASESANDWATER3ATURNHASABOUT
TIMESMOREVOLUMETHAN%ARTHANDABOUTTIMESMORE
MASS4HEREFOREITISMUCHLESSDENSETHAN%ARTH

$SJUJDBM
5IJOLJOH
 #OMPARE !BOUTHOW
MANYTIMESDOES%ARTH
REVOLVEAROUNDTHESUNIN
THETIMEITTAKES3ATURNTO
REVOLVEONCE

2%!$).'#(%#+

&ACTS!BOUT3ATURN
$ISTANCEFROMSUN

!5

0ERIODOFROTATION

HOURSMINUTES

0ERIODOFREVOLUTION

%ARTHYEARSDAYS

$IAMETER

KM

$ENSITY

GCM

3URFACEGRAVITY

OF%ARTHS

4HEINSIDEOF3ATURNISPROBABLYSIMILARTOTHEINSIDE
OF*UPITER!LSOLIKE*UPITER3ATURNGIVESOFFMOREHEAT
THANITGETSFROMTHESUN3CIENTISTSTHINKTHAT3ATURNS
EXTRAENERGYCOMESFROMHELIUMCONDENSINGFROMTHE
ATMOSPHEREANDSINKINGTOWARDTHECORE)NOTHERWORDS
3ATURNISSTILLFORMING
3ATURNISPROBABLYBESTKNOWNFORTHERINGSTHATORBIT
THEPLANETABOVEITSEQUATOR4HEYAREABOUTKM
ACROSSBUTLESSTHANKMTHICK4HERINGSAREMADEOF
TRILLIONSOFPARTICLESOFICEANDDUST4HESEPARTICLESRANGE
FROMACENTIMETERTOSEVERALKILOMETERSACROSS

 )DENTIFY 7HATTWO

MATERIALSMAKEUPTHE
RINGSOF3ATURN

4HISPICTUREOF3ATURNWASTAKENBY
THE6OYAGERPROBE

#OPYRIGHTBY(OLT2INEHARTAND7INSTON!LLRIGHTSRESERVED

)NTERACTIVE4EXTBOOK



!&AMILYOF0LANETS

.AME

#LASS

$ATE

4HE/UTER0LANETSCONTINUED

3%#4)/.

(OW)S5RANUS5NIQUE
5RANUSISTHETHIRD LARGESTPLANETINTHESOLARSYSTEM)T
ISSOFARFROMTHESUNTHATITDOESNOTREFLECTMUCHSUNLIGHT
9OUCANNOTSEEITFROM%ARTHWITHOUTUSINGATELESCOPE
5RANUSISDIFFERENTFROMTHEOTHERPLANETSBECAUSEIT
IShTIPPEDvONITSSIDE!SSHOWNINTHEFIGUREBELOWTHE
NORTHANDSOUTHPOLESOF5RANUSPOINTALMOSTDIRECTLYAT
THESUN4HENORTHANDSOUTHPOLESOFMOSTOTHERPLANETS
LIKE%ARTHARENEARLYATRIGHTANGLESTOTHESUN
&ORABOUTHALFTHE5RANIANYEARONEPOLEISCONSTANTLY
INSUNLIGHTANDFORTHEOTHERHALFOFTHEYEARITISINDARK
NESS3OMESCIENTISTSTHINKTHAT5RANUSMAYHAVEBEEN
TIPPEDOVERBYACOLLISIONWITHAMASSIVEOBJECT

2%!$).'#(%#+
 )DENTIFY 7HYCANT5RANUS
BESEENFROM%ARTHWITHOUTA
TELESCOPE

5RANUS
5RANUSSORBIT


!XISOF
ROTATION

3UN

5RANUSISTILTEDSOTHATITSPOLES
POINTALMOSTDIRECTLYATTHESUN

3UN

)NCONTRAST%ARTHSPOLESLIKETHOSE

OFMOSTOTHERPLANETSARENEARLYAT
RIGHTANGLESTOTHESUN

0LANEOFORBIT

%ARTH
%ARTHSORBIT


!XISOF
ROTATION

M:D>:EHHD
 %XPLAIN 7HYDOSCIENTISTS
SAYTHAT5RANUSIShTIPPED
OVERv

0LANEOFORBIT

,IKE*UPITERAND3ATURN5RANUSISMADEMOSTLYOF
HYDROGENHELIUMANDSMALLAMOUNTSOFOTHERGASES/NE
OFTHESEGASESMETHANEFILTERSSUNLIGHTANDMAKESTHE
PLANETLOOKBLUISH GREEN
&ACTS!BOUT5RANUS
$ISTANCEFROMSUN

!5

0ERIODOFROTATION

HOURSMINUTES

0ERIODOFREVOLUTION

%ARTHYEARSDAYS

$IAMETER

KM

$ENSITY

GCM

3URFACEGRAVITY

OF%ARTHS

M:D>:EHHD
 #OMPARE (OWDOESTHE
LENGTHOFAYEARON5RANUS
COMPARETOTHELENGTHOFA
YEARON%ARTH

#OPYRIGHTBY(OLT2INEHARTAND7INSTON!LLRIGHTSRESERVED

)NTERACTIVE4EXTBOOK



!&AMILYOF0LANETS

.AME
3%#4)/.

#LASS

$ATE

4HE/UTER0LANETSCONTINUED

7HAT)S.EPTUNE,IKE

2%!$).'#(%#+
 %XPLAIN 7HATEVIDENCE
DIDASTRONOMERSHAVETHAT
.EPTUNEEXISTEDBEFORETHEY
ACTUALLYOBSERVEDIT

M:D>:EHHD
 #OMPARE (OWDOES
.EPTUNESAVERAGEDISTANCE
FROMTHESUNCOMPARETO
%ARTHS

3OMEASTRONOMERSPREDICTEDTHATTHEREWASAPLANET
BEYOND5RANUSBEFORETHEPLANETWASOBSERVED5RANUS
DIDNOTMOVEINITSORBITEXACTLYASTHEYEXPECTED4HE
FORCEOFGRAVITYDUETOANOTHERLARGEOBJECTWASAFFECTING
IT5SINGPREDICTIONSOFITSEFFECTON5RANUSASTRONOMERS
DISCOVERED.EPTUNEIN
.EPTUNEISTHEFOURTH LARGESTPLANETINTHESOLARSYS
TEM,IKETHEOTHERGASGIANTS.EPTUNEISMADEUPMOSTLY
OFHYDROGENHELIUMANDSMALLAMOUNTSOFOTHERGASES)T
HASADEEPBLUECOLORWHICHISCAUSEDBYMETHANEINITS
ATMOSPHERE
#LOUDSANDWEATHERCHANGESARESEENINTHEATMOSPHERE
OF.EPTUNE4HESPACECRAFT6OYAGERFLEWPAST.EPTUNE
INANDOBSERVEDA'REAT$ARK3POTINTHESOUTHERN
HEMISPHERE4HISSPOTWASASTORMASLARGEAS%ARTH)T
MOVEDACROSSTHEPLANETSSURFACEATABOUTMS"Y
THE'REAT$ARK3POTHADDISAPPEARED!NOTHERDARK
SPOTWASTHENFOUNDINTHENORTHERNHEMISPHERE6OYAGER
IMAGESALSOSHOWEDTHAT.EPTUNEHASVERYNARROWRINGS
&ACTS!BOUT.EPTUNE
$ISTANCEFROMSUN

!5

0ERIODOFROTATION

HOURSMINUTES

0ERIODOFREVOLUTION

%ARTHYEARSDAYS

$IAMETER

KM

$ENSITY

GCM

3URFACEGRAVITY

OF%ARTHS

7HY)S0LUTO#ALLEDA$WARF0LANET
0LUTOHASBEENCALLEDTHENINTHPLANETSINCEITSDISCOV
ERYIN(OWEVERINASTRONOMERSDEFINEDPLANET
INANEWWAY0LUTODOESNOTFITTHENEWDEFINITIONOFA
PLANET3O0LUTOHASBEENRECLASSIFIEDASADWARFPLANET
!DWARFPLANETISANYOBJECTTHATORBITSTHESUNAND
ISROUNDBECAUSEOFITSOWNGRAVITYBUTHASNOTCLEARED
ITSORBITALPATH)NADDITIONTO0LUTO%RISAND#ERESHAVE
BEENCLASSIFIEDASDWARFPLANETS%RISISLARGERTHAN0LUTO
#ERESWASPREVIOUSLYCLASSIFIEDASANASTEROID

#OPYRIGHTBY(OLT2INEHARTAND7INSTON!LLRIGHTSRESERVED

)NTERACTIVE4EXTBOOK



!&AMILYOF0LANETS

Name
SECTION 3

Class

Date

The Outer Planets continued

A SMALL WORLD

Pluto is made of rock and ice and has a thin

atmosphere made of methane and nitrogen. Scientists do
not know if Pluto formed along with the planets.
AN UNUSUAL ORBIT

The shape of Plutos orbit is different from the shapes

of the orbits of the outer planets. As shown in the figure
below, sometimes Pluto is closer to the sun than Neptune
is. At other times, Neptune is closer to the sun.

3ATURN
*UPITER

TAKE A LOOK

10. Compare How is Plutos

orbit different from the orbits
of the outer planets?

5RANUS

.EPTUNE

0LUTO

The shape of Plutos orbit is very different

from the orbits of the outer planets.

Facts About Pluto

Distance from sun

39.5 AU

Period of rotation

6 days, 10 hours

Period of revolution

248 Earth years, 4 days

Diameter

2,390 km

Density

1.75 g/cm3

Surface gravity

6% of Earths

A LARGE MOON

Plutos moon, Charon, is more than half the size of

Pluto. From Earth, it is hard to separate the images of
Pluto and Charon because they are so far away. Charon
may be covered by frozen water.

Critical Thinking
11. Infer How do you think
scientists learned that Pluto
has a moon if it is difcult to
separate their images?

Copyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.

Interactive Textbook

419

A Family of Planets

.AME

#LASS

$ATE

3ECTION2EVIEW

.3%3

%3CAB

3%#4)/.6/#!"5,!29
GASGIANT APLANETTHATHASADEEPMASSIVE
ATMOSPHERESUCHAS*UPITER3ATURN5RANUSOR
.EPTUNE

)DENTIFY 7HATISTHEMAINELEMENTFOUNDINTHEATMOSPHEREOFAGASGIANTPLANET

#OMPARE &ILLINTHEBLANKSTOCOMPLETETHETABLE
0LANET

$ISTANCEFROMSUN

0ERIODOFREVOLUTION

!5

%ARTHYEARSDAYS

!5

%ARTHYEARSDAYS

!5

%ARTHYEARSDAYS

!5

%ARTHYEARSDAYS

%VALUATE$ATA (OWARETHESURFACETEMPERATUREANDLENGTHOFYEARONAPLANET

RELATEDTOTHEPLANETSDISTANCEFROMTHESUN

-AKE#OMPARISONS (OWDOTHEGASGIANTSDIFFERFROMTHEINNERPLANETSOFTHE

SOLARSYSTEM)NYOURANSWERDISCUSSCOMPOSITIONSIZEDISTANCEFROMTHESUN

LENGTHOFAYEARANDSOLARENERGYRECEIVED

)DENTIFY 7HATGIVES.EPTUNEAND5RANUSTHEIRBLUETOBLUE GREENCOLORS

$ESCRIBE 7HATDIDTHE6OYAGERPROBESDISCOVERABOUT*UPITER

#OPYRIGHTBY(OLT2INEHARTAND7INSTON!LLRIGHTSRESERVED

)NTERACTIVE4EXTBOOK



!&AMILYOF0LANETS

Earth Science Answer Key continued

SECTION 2 THE INNER PLANETS

3. He made and analyzed observations of plan-

etary motions.
4. The point closest to the sun should be
labeled.
5. The farther a planet is from the sun, the longer its period of revolution.
6. Gravity pulls it toward the Earth.

1. They have a makeup similar to that of Earth.

2. density
3. The rotations are in opposite directions
4.
5.

Review
1. Rotation describes the motion of a body

2.

3.

4.
5.
6.

6.
7.

spinning on an axis. Revolution describes

the motion of a body orbiting another body.
The speed at which a planet is moving in its
orbit is different at different places in the
orbit.
Mass of the objects: As mass increases, the
force of gravity increases.
Distance between the objects: As the
separation increases, the force of gravity
decreases.
inertia and gravity
The object would crash into the planet.
According to Keplers third law, moon A will
take longest to orbit because it is farthest away.

8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

when viewed from above the North Pole.

1 day
The thick atmosphere prevents visual
observations, even from space probes.
its oceans
Period of revolution is 6 h longer than 365 days.
4 6 h 24 h, or 1 day
Mars has a thinner atmosphere, and it is
farther from the sun.
A Martian day is longer than an Earth day.
erosion and sediments
at the poles and possibly below the surface
It may have erupted over long periods of time.
evidence that water once existed on the
Martian surface

Review
1. prograde
2. Planet

Distance from
sun (AU)

Period of revolution

Chapter 21 A Family of
Planets

Mercury

0.38

58 Earth days, 19 h

Venus

0.72

243 Earth days, 16 h

SECTION 1 OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

Earth

1.00

365 Earth days, 6 h

Mars

1.52

687 Earth days

planets, sun, moons

about 450 million km
about 250 light-minutes
Mercury
Mars
The planets in the outer solar system are, in
general, larger and farther apart than those
in the inner solar system.
7. Neptune

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

3. Features on the surface show that there may

have been erosion or sedimentation like that

caused by water on Earth. For liquid water to
exist, there would have to be a warmer surface
and a thicker atmosphere than there are now.
4. Planets that are farther from the sun take
longer to orbit the sun.
5. Venus has a thicker atmosphere and a stronger greenhouse effect, making it hotter than
the other inner planets.
6. If the Earth were too close to the sun, liquid
water would boil away.

Review
1. about 58 million km
2. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
3. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
4. A light-hour is the distance light travels in an

SECTION 3 THE OUTER PLANETS

1. Four of the following: hydrogen, helium,

hourabout 1,080 million km.

5. Light-years are much longer than light-minutes
or light-hours. Our solar system is too small
to measure accurately in light-years.

2.
3.
4.
5.

ammonia, methane, water

its period of rotation
about 29 times
ice, dust
It does not reflect enough light.

Copyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.

Interactive Textbook Answer Key

63

Earth Science

Earth Science Answer Key continued

gas giants
Deimos, Phobos
Ganymede, Callisto, Io, Europa
liquid water
Possible answer: No, there is no, or not
enough, oxygen to breathe.
16. ice and rock
17. Planets revolve around the sun. Moons
revolve around planets.

Its poles point almost directly at the sun.

A year on Uranus lasts almost 84 Earth years.
Its gravity affected the orbit of Uranus.
Neptune is just over 30 times farther from
the sun as Earth.
10. Possible answer: Plutos orbit is more off
center than the orbits of the planets.
11. Possible answer: They used images from
probes that were closer to Pluto.

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Review
1. hydrogen
2. Planet

Review
1. During a solar eclipse, the moon comes

6.
7.
8.
9.

Distance from
sun (AU)

between the Earth and the sun. During a

lunar eclipse, the Earth comes between the
sun and the moon.
2. From the top down: satellite, Earths moon,
moons of other planets
Large: Galilean moons (or name of one)
Small: Phobos or Deimos
3. The moon was formed early in the history
of the solar system and has not changed
much because there is no erosion. The solar
system is about the same age as the oldest
rocks on the moon.
4. The moons orbit is tilted relative to the
Earths orbit.

Period of revolution

Jupiter

5.20

11 Earth years,
313 days

Saturn

9.54

29 Earth years,
155 days

Uranus

19.22

83 Earth years,
273 days

Neptune

30.06

163 Earth years, 263

days

3. The farther a planet is from the sun, the longer

its year is and the cooler its surface is.

4. They are made of gases. They are larger
than the inner planets. The gas giants are
farther from the sun. The year is longer.
They receive less energy from the sun than
the inner planets do.
5. methane in their atmospheres
6. Jupiter has a thin, faint ring.

SECTION 5 SMALL BODIES IN THE

SOLAR SYSTEM
1. ice, rock, and dust
2. An arrow should be drawn toward the upper

SECTION 4 MOONS
1. They have studied moon rocks brought back

3.
4.

2.
3.
4.
5.

5.
6.

6.
7.

8.
9.
10.

by Apollo astronauts.
4/25
the composition of rock from the moon
the force of gravity
Light from the sun is reflected from the
moons surface to Earth.
The moon changes its position in relation to
the sun and Earth.
The moon is between the sun and Earth,
and the shadow of the moon falls on part of
Earths surface.
The moons shadow only covers a small part
of Earth.
The moon passes through the shadow of the
Earth.
The moons orbit is tilted slightly in relation
to Earths orbit around the sun.

7.
8.

9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

left-hand corner of the figure.

far beyond the orbit of Pluto
The ion tail is pushed away from the sun by
the solar wind.
between Mars and Jupiter
Possible answer: Scientists have used
probes to sample asteroids.
Asteroids are much smaller.
A meteoroid is a piece of dust or debris
in space. A meteorite is a meteoroid that
reaches Earths surface.
stony, metallic, stony-iron
iron, nickel
Meteorites are found on Earth.
Earths atmosphere acts as a shield, so most
meteoroids burn up before they hit the ground.
red

Copyright by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.

Interactive Textbook Answer Key

64

Earth Science