For Physical Geography

1. THE
SOLAR SYSTEMTHE SOLAR SYSTEM
AND EARTH

2. 1.Discuss the nature of the solar system
2.Explain how the forces in the solar
system affect the earth and its structure
3.Appreciate the importance of space
exploration in gaining more knowledge
about the solar system and the different
planets.

3. WHAT WAS THE ORIGIN OF
THE SOLAR SYSTEM??

4. WHAT IS
?

5. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
Terrestrial planets and Jovian planets.
Balance of two opposing forces- gravitational
attraction and centrifugal force.

6. GRAVITATIONAL ATTRACTION
Gravity is the
force by which
a planet or
other body
draws objects
toward its
center. The
force of gravity
keeps all of the
planets in orbit
around the sun.

7. The sun exerts gravitational force on the
members of the solar system. This force is
known as gravitational attraction which
keeps the planets from sailing out into
space as they revolve around the sun in
their particular orbits.

8. CENTRIFUGAL FORCE
 Centrifugal force is defined as, "the apparent
force that is felt by an object moving in a
curved path that acts outwardly away from the
center of rotation,“.

9. The balance between the sun’s
gravitational effects and the
centrifugal effect of each of the
planets determine the detailed path
that each follows the sun.

10. THE SUN
The Sun—the heart of our solar system—
is a yellow dwarf star, a hot ball of glowing
gases.
It has a spherical gaseous body about
1,300,000 times the earth’s volume and its
diameter is 1.4 million kilometers (856,400
miles), 109 times that of the earth.
Sun’s temperature is about 5,700 c to 6000
c.

11. THE PLANETS

12. Structure and Surface
 Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system (2,439.7 km). It is small
and rocky. Mercury has a thin atmosphere.
Time on Mercury
 A day on Mercury lasts 59 Earth days. A year on Mercury lasts 88 Earth
days.
Quick History
 Mercury has been known since ancient times because it can be seen
without advanced telescopes. Mercury has been visited by two spacecraft:
Mariner 10 and MESSENGER.

13. Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is the second
largest terrestrial planet.
Venus does not have any moons or rings.
It is nearly as big as the Earth with a diameter of 12,104 km.
Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system with the average
surface temperature is 462 °C.
Retrograde Rotation

14. Our home planet is the third planet from the
Sun, and the only place we know of so far that’s
inhabited by living things.
The name Earth is at least 1,000 years old.
However, the name Earth is a Germanic word,
which simply means “the ground.”
ORBIT: 149,600,000 km (1.00 AU) from Sun
DIAMETER: 12,756.3 km
MASS: 5.972e24 kg
SIZE: 6,371 km

15.  It is half the size of Earth (3,389.5 km). Mars is sometimes
called the Red Planet.
Structure and Surface
• Mars is a terrestrial planet. It is small and rocky.
• Mars has an active atmosphere.
Time on Mars
• One day on Mars lasts 24.6 hours. It is just a little
longer than a day on Earth.
• One year on Mars is 687 Earth days. It is almost
twice as long as one year on Earth.
Mars’ Neighbors
• Mars has two moons. Their names are Phobos and
Deimos.

16. Structure and Surface
• Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system. It size
69,911km.
• Jupiter is a gas giant. It is made mostly of hydrogen and
helium.
• Jupiter has a very thick atmosphere.
• Jupiter has rings, but they’re very hard to see.
• Jupiter has sixty-seven confirmed moons.
Time on Jupiter
• One day on Jupiter goes by in just 10 hours.
• One year on Jupiter is the same as 11.8 Earth years.

17.  Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the most
distant that can be seen with the naked eye. Saturn is
the second largest planet and is best known for its
fabulous ring system.
 Saturn orbits the Sun once every 29.4 Earth years.
 Saturn has the most extensive rings in the solar
system. The rings stretch out more than 120,700 km
from the planet.
 Saturn has 150 moons and smaller moonlets.
 It sizes 58,232 km.

18. The seventh planet from the Sun with the third largest
diameter in our solar system, Uranus is very cold and windy.
The ice giant is surrounded by 13 faint rings and 27 small
moons as it rotates at a nearly 90-degree angle from the
plane of its orbit.
With a radius of 15,759.2 miles (25,362 kilometers), Uranus
is 4 times wider than Earth.
Uranus has two sets of rings.
One day on Uranus takes about 17 hours .

19. Structure and Surface
 Neptune is encircled by six rings. Neptune has a thick, windy atmosphere.
 It size 24,622 km.
Time on Neptune
 One day on Neptune goes by in 16 hours. Neptune has such a long journey
around the Sun it takes 165 Earth years to go around once. That’s a long year.
Neptune's Neighbors
 Neptune has 13 moons (and one more awaiting confirmation of discovery)
Neptune was discovered in 1846 by Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch Adams,
and Johann Galle. Only Voyager 2 has visited Neptune.

20. Pluto is considered a dwarf planet. The dwarf planet is a
whopping 3.7 billion miles (5.9 billion kilometers) from the
sun, and its average temperature hovers around -356
degrees Fahrenheit (-215 degrees Celsius). It size
1,188.3 km.
Pluto has three known moons, Hydra, Nix, and Charon. With
a diameter of about 737 miles (1,186 kilometers), Charon is
the largest of Pluto's moons.
New Horizons also found Pluto to have blue skies and water
ice.

23.  Earth is not a perfect sphere. It is an oblate spheroid. The Earth is
12,756km at the equator and 12,714km from pole to pole. We round
this up to 13,000km.
Early astronomers knew that Earth was round for several reasons:
 The shadow of the Earth on the Moon during a lunar eclipse is round.
 Travelers going north or south see different stars not visible from
elsewhere.
 Travelers recording shadows at different angles on the same date.
 Tall ships appearing to 'sink' as they move over the horizon

24.  The earth structure consists of three basic layers. The outermost layer
which covers the earth like a thin skin is called CRUST. Beneath that is
a thick layer called the MANTLE. Occupying the central region is the
CORE.

25.  Continents and ocean basins (land beneath the ocean) are parts of a
rocky ‘skin’ that surrounds the main body of the earth. This skin called
the earth’s crust.
 This brittle outermost layer varies in thickness from about 25 to 70 km
under continents, and from about 5 to 10 km under the oceans.

26. THE CRUST IS MADE OF THREE KINDS OF ROCK: THE
IGNEOUS, SEDIMENTARY AND METAMORPHIC ROCK
IGNEOUS ROCK
Are the primary rocks of the earth's crust and are formed when
melted rock deep inside the crust cools and hardens or erupts at the
surface as lava.

27. SEDIMENTARY ROCK
Rock cover much of the earth surface. These materilas
were worn away from the land. They then collected in low
places, layer upon layer, and hardened into rocks.

28.  METAMORPHIC ROCK
Are formed deep in the crust when igneous and
sedimentary rocks are changed by heat and the weight
of the crust presses on them.

29. OCEANIC CRUST- This crust is below the oceans. There,
the crust is 4-7 miles thick. The rocks of the oceanic crust are
very young compared to the rocks of continental rocks.
CONTINENTAL CRUST- The relatively thick part of the
earth's crust that forms the large landmasses. It is generally
older and more complex than the oceanic crust.

30. The layer above the core is the mantle. It begins about 6
miles below the oceanic crust and about 19 miles below the
continental crust. It is about 1800 miles thick and makes up
nearly 80 percent of the erath’s total volume. The mantle is
divided into the inner mantle and the outer mantle.

31. INNER CORE
The inner mantle can be found between 190 miles and 1800 miles
below the earth’s surface. The avrerage temperature is 5400 F,
nevertheless the rock is solid because of the high pressures.
OUTER CORE
The outer mantle is a lot thinner than the inner mantle. It can be
found between 7 miles and 190 miles below the surface of the earth. The
bottom layer is tough liquid rock and probably consists of silicates of iron
and magnesium. The temperature in this part is between 2520 F.

33. 1. Why is it important to study solar system? 5pts
2. How is the earth unique among the planets and satellites of the solar system? 5pts
3. What are common characteristics of the Terrestrial planets and Jovian planets?
What are some noteworthy differences between them? 5pts
4. Give a list about the layers of the earth and provide its characteristics and
differences. 5pts