Solar System Essay Type Questions And Answers
1. a) Is the solar system just a tiny portion of the universe?
Answer: Yes.
b) Beyond the Earth’s atmosphere is space. Name three things that can be found in space.
Answer:
· The Sun.
· Planets.
· Heavenly bodies.
c) What is the solar system made up of?
Answer:
· The Sun.
· The eight planets.
· Heavenly bodies.
2. Name five heavenly bodies of the solar system.
Answer:
· Comets.
· Meteors.
· Asteroids.
· Planets.
· Stars.
· Planetoids.
3. What is astronomy?
Answer: Astronomy is the study of the universe and the relationship between the heavenly bodies.
4. Who is an astronaut?
Answer: An astronaut is a person trained to be able to travel in space rocket to space.
5. What is referred to as “orbit”?
Answer: Orbit is the curved path of a body. A body could be a planet, a satellite or spacecraft.
6. What are asteroids?
Answer: An asteroid is any of the small rocky celestial bodies found especially between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
7. What is a meteor?
Answer: A meteor is a piece of rock or metal that burns very brightly when it enters the Earth’s atmosphere from space.
8. What is a comet?
Answer: A comet is an object that travels around the Sun leaving a bright trail (stream of gas and dust) behind it.
9. What is a planet?
Answer: A planet is a large body in space that revolves around the Sun or another star.
10. Write three definitions of a star?
Answer:
· It is a natural heavenly body that burns to produce heat and light.
· It is a glowing ball of hot gas in space.
· It is a massive, luminous ball of plasma (gas) that is held together by gravity.
11. a) The nearest star to the Earth is
Answer: The Sun.
b) Are others stars visible in the night sky when they are not outshone by the Sun?
Answer: Yes.
c) What object contains more than 99.8% of the total mass of the solar system? It is by far the largest object in the solar system.
Answer: The Sun.
12. a) What are stars made of?
Answer: Stars are made of 71% hydrogen, 27% helium and the remaining 2% being elements like iron, carbon, oxygen and others.
b) Who are astronomers?
Answer: Astronomers are people who study the stars.
c) Mention three things that make up a galaxy.
Answer:
· Stars.
· Space dust.
· Gas.
13. a i) Does the combination of stars, space dust and gas take on several shapes?
Answer: Yes.
a ii) Mention one shape that a galaxy could assume.
Answer: Spiral.
b) Do stars, dust and gas swirl around in perfect form?
Answer: Yes.
c) A large group of many stars in the universe is a
Answer: Galaxy.
d i) Are there many galaxies within the universe?
Answer: Yes.
d ii) Do galaxies range in size from 1 million to 1 trillion stars?
Answer: Yes.
14. The galaxy which contains our solar system is
Answer: The Milky Way galaxy.
15. a) Is the Milky Way galaxy the group of planets and stars that the Earth belongs to?
Answer: Yes.
b) Is the Milky Way galaxy spirally shaped?
Answer: Yes.
c) All the stars the eye can distinguish in the night sky are part of which galaxy?
Answer: The Milky Way galaxy.
d) How did the Milky Way galaxy get its name?
Answer: The Milky Way galaxy gets its name from the light produced by all the stars inside it. From the Earth, the light looks like a band of milky white light across the night sky.
16. a) Is it true that large galaxies frequently ‘eat’ smaller galaxies? When a smaller galaxy gets too close a larger galaxy, the larger galaxy ‘sucks’ the smaller galaxy in; the two become one.
Answer: Yes.
b) Do galaxies ‘die’ when the stars inside them burn out?
Answer: Yes.
c) What happens when the matter that supplies the stars the necessary fuel to burn brightly runs out?
Answer: The stars fade into darkness.
d) What happens when all the stars of a galaxy are gone?
Answer: The galaxy ceases to exist in space.
17. a) Does the Earth receive almost all of its radiation from the Sun’s radiation?
Answer: Yes.
b) What has the most dominating influence on the changing climate of various locations on Earth at different times of the year?
Answer: The Sun.
c) What causes the day and night phenomenon?
Answer: The rotation of the Earth about its axis.
d) Does the Sun’s gravity keep the Earth in its orbit around the Sun?
Answer: Yes.
18. a) Does the Sun’s heat and light provide electromagnetic energy which provides light used by plants to grow and reproduce?
Answer: Yes.
b) Does the Sun’s heat and light provide electromagnetic energy which provides heat to keep the planet from freezing?
Answer: Yes.
19. a) Are planets solid in nature?
Answer: Yes.
b) Do planets move around the Sun?
Answer: Yes.
c) Which is bigger, planets or stars?
Answer: Stars.
20. a) Are stars made up of burning masses of gases?
Answer: Yes.
b) Do stars produce heat and light?
Answer: Yes.
c) Are stars believed to be stationary? That is, they do not move.
Answer: Yes.
21. Write the correct order of the eight planets by their distance from the Sun.
Answer: Mercury -> Venus -> Earth -> Mars -> Jupiter -> Saturn -> Uranus -> Neptune.
22. Write the four inner planets.
Answer:
· Mercury
· Venus
· Earth
· Mars
23. Write the four outer planets.
· Jupiter
· Saturn
· Uranus
· Neptune
24. The smallest and closest planet to the sun is
Answer: Mercury.
25. Which of the planets is the brightest of all the planets when viewed from the Earth? It cannot support life because it has a high temperature and a cloudy atmosphere made up of carbon dioxide and other poisonous gases?
Answer: Venus.
26. The planet that is believed to be the hottest planet is
Answer: Venus.
27. The only known planet that supports plant and animal life is
Answer: Earth.
28. List four reasons why Earth is able to support life.
Answer: Earth is able to support life due to the presence of the following:
· Air (Oxygen).
· Water.
· Suitable temperature.
· Ozone layer.
29. The planet that is known as ‘Earth twin’ because it has almost the same size as Earth is
Answer: Venus.
30. The planet that is referred to as ‘morning star’ because it can be seen early in the morning is
Answer: Venus.
31. Which planet is called the red planet because about half of its surface appears red? It is believed to be rocky and cannot support plant and animal life.
Answer: Mars.
32. The largest of all the planets is
Answer: Jupiter.
33. Give two reasons why Jupiter cannot support plant and animal life.
Answer:
· It has a cold temperature.
· It is surrounded by poisonous gases.
34. a) Is Saturn the second largest planet?
Answer: Yes.
b) Does Saturn have a series of colourful rings around its equator?
Answer: Yes.
c) Is it true that Saturn has a cold temperature and cannot support life?
Answer: Yes.
d) Is it true that Saturn can be seen with the naked eye and is the flattest planet?
Answer: Yes.
35. a) Is it true that Uranus has no solid surface?
Answer: Yes.
b) Is it true that Uranus is one of the giant planets? The others are Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune.
Answer: Yes.
c) Is it true that Uranus orbits the Sun lying on its side; it takes 84 years to complete one orbit?
Answer: Yes.
d) How many moons has Uranus got?
Answer: 27.
36. Why does Uranus have a blue-green colour?
Answer: Most of the centre of Uranus is a frozen mass of ammonia and methane.
37. Does the atmosphere of Uranus contain hydrogen and helium?
Answer: Yes.
38. The most distant planet from the Sun in our solar system is
Answer: Neptune.
39. The planet that is believed to have 14 moons is
Answer: Neptune.
40. a) Can Neptune be seen with the unaided eye?
Answer: No.
b) Does Neptune spin on its axis very rapidly?
Answer: Yes.
c) Mention three gases found in the atmosphere of Neptune.
Answer:
· Hydrogen.
· Helium.
· Methane.
d) Which planet has only been visited by one spacecraft; this event occurred in August, 1989?
Answer: Neptune.
41. The Sun is entirely composed of burning gases such as
Answer: Hydrogen and Helium.
42. There are large holes on the moon called
Answer: craters.
43. The core of the moon is metallic iron with small amounts of
Answer: sulphur and nickel.
44. a) Mention six elements found on the moon’s crust.
Answer:
· Oxygen
· Silicon
· Magnesium
· Iron
· Calcium
· Aluminium
b i) The large holes found on the moon are called
Answer: craters.
b ii) Bigger holes than craters found on the moon are called
Answer: Apollo.
c) Why is the moon believed to have no atmosphere?
Answer: Its atmosphere is too small. The moon has no air, water and wind.
d) How long does it take the moon to make one revolution round the Earth? Approximately
Answer: 28 days.
45. Mention three things that make up Earth.
Answer:
· Rocks.
· Air.
· Water.
46. Mention the three main parts that make up the rocks of Earth.
Answer:
· The core.
· The mantle.
· The crust.
47. a) The core of the Earth is divided into two main parts. Name them.
Answer:
· A solid inner core (with a radius of 1250 km)
· A liquid outer core (with a radius of 3500 km)
b) The inner core of the Earth is believed to be solid. Name the two main elements that are believed to make up the inner core.
Answer:
· Iron.
· Nickel.
c) What is the depth of the Earth’s mantle?
Answer: 2890 km.
d) The outer core of the Earth surrounds the inner core. Name two elements that are believed to make up outer core.
Answer:
· Liquid iron.
· Liquid nickel.
48. The layer of the Earth where we live is the
Answer: crust.
49. a) Mention two substances that could be found in Earth’s mantle.
Answer:
· Iron.
· Magnesium.
b) Is Earth’s mantle thicker than the crust?
Answer: Yes.
c) Does the Earth’s crust range from 5 km to 70 km in depth?
Answer: Yes.
d) Is the Earth the only known planet whose surface has liquid water?
Answer: Yes.
50. Water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface. 97% of it is sea water and the remaining 3% is
Answer: fresh water.
51. a) The Earth’s crust is divided into two main categories. Name them.
Answer:
· Oceanic crust (thin crust)
· Continental crust (thicker crust)
b i) Mention the substances that make up oceanic crust.
Answer:
· Iron.
· Magnesium silicate rocks.
b ii) Mention the substances that make up continental crust?
Answer:
· Sodium.
· Potassium.
· Aluminium.
· Silicate rocks.
b iii) Which is denser, oceanic or continental crust?
Answer: Oceanic crust.
c) Is the iron found in oceanic crust dense iron?
Answer: Yes.
d) Is it true that iron and magnesium silicate rocks underlie the ocean basins?
Answer: Yes.
52. Mention the components of Earth’s atmosphere and their relative percentages.
Answer:
|
Component |
Percentage |
|
Nitrogen |
78% |
|
Oxygen |
21% |
|
Rare gases |
1% |
|
Carbon dioxide |
0.03% |
|
Water vapour |
Variable |
|
Dust particles |
Variable |
53. What is a satellite?
Answer: A satellite is a smaller body that moves around a bigger body in space.
54. Why is the Earth a satellite?
Answer: The Earth is a satellite because it moves around the Sun.
55. What is a natural satellite?
Answer: A natural satellite is a type of satellite that is already in the universe, moving around another body.
56. Mention three examples of a natural satellite.
Answer:
· Mercury
· Venus
· Earth
· Mars
· Jupiter
· Saturn
· Uranus
· Neptune
· Moon
57. What is an artificial satellite?
Answer: An artificial satellite is a type of satellite that is launched into space by humans to move around the Earth or any other planet.
58. a) Are natural satellites launched into space by humans?
Answer: No.
b) Do natural satellites require engines?
Answer: No.
c) Do natural satellites move at constant or unchangeable speeds while artificial satellites move at regulated speeds?
Answer: Yes.
d) Is it true that natural satellites are permanent as compared to artificial satellites?
Answer: Yes.
59. Mention six uses of artificial satellites.
Answer: They are used for:
· Weather forecasting.
· Transmission of radio and television signals.
· Scientific experimentation.
· Space exploration.
· Taking pictures or photographs of other planets.
· Communication
60. Is it true that the solar system orbits around the center of the galaxy about once every 225 million years?
Answer: Yes.