Formation of the Solar System

1. Formation of the Solar System

2. Nebular Theory • Older Theory • Solar nebula • Fragments spins faster and faster flattening into a disk-like feature • Formed Sun and Planets • Spinning = almost perfect circle orbits • Flaw • Computer models show clumps would break apart not get bigger and bigger. • needed to revise the theory

3. Condensation Theory • Newer Theory • Interstellar Dust • From dead stars • Helped to: • cool the cloud of gas making it easier to collapse the disk • speed up the process of collecting atoms to form planets • Condensation nuclei • Microscopic platforms to which other atoms can attach, forming larger balls of matter.

4. Planet Formation

5. Stage 1 • Accretion • Dust forms condensation nuclei = clumps = bigger clumps… • By collision and sticking • End • Hydrogen and Helium • Millions planetesimals • Objects the size of small moons • Gravitational fields large enough to effect their neighbors

6. Stage 2 • Collision of planetesimals due to gravity = Protoplanets • Protoplanets • Build-up of matter that will become the planets • Collision of planetesimals and protoplanets • Produced fragments, which some became asteroids and comets • 100 million years • 8 protoplanets • Dozen of protomoon • Protosun (protostar) • Another billion years = solar system similar to ours • Extreme meteorite bombardment

7. Differentiation of the Solar System Inner planets vs. Outer planets

8. Factors that influence planet formation • Temperature • Hotter in the center and cooler on the outside • Distance • Metallic grains = Mercury’s orbit • 1 AU = silicate grains • 3 or 4 AU = water ice could exist • 5 AU = water vapor, ammonia, and methane • Density • More dense towards the center • Gravity was affecting it all

9. Inner Planet • Terrestrial Planets • Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars • Dust breaking down into atoms then reformed into new dust (grains) • Heavier elements abundant • Silicon, Iron, Magnesium, Aluminum combined with oxygen to form rocky materials • Lack of lighter elements • The comet bombardment of planets = water

10. Outer Planets • Jovian Planets • Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune • Cores formed under cooler conditions = low ice dense material • Accretion began soon after disk formation • Grew large enough to accrete grains and then gases from the nebula = hydrogen rich planets

11. Review Video • Formation of Solar System • http://video.pbs.org/video/1790621534/ • Questions: • Why are asteroids so important? • They help us understand how our solar system began • Where did Iron 60 come from? • Massive stars – supernova • What are the two ideas of how our solar system got started? • Supernova shockwave and gentle shockwaves from a Massive star

12. Force behind the formation Gravity

13. Lab: Balloon on a String • Hypothesis: What direction do you think the balloons would travel in if they were released while spinning (circle, diagonal, straight line, etc…) and why? • When we are outside draw in your science journals what you see happen. • Is there anything you observed that would change your inference/hypothesis? If so what?

14. Lab Continue • Listen to reading • What are the two forces that hold our solar system together? • Gravity and inertia • In the demo what was what? • String: • The Balloon: • The person: • The release of the balloon: • What would happen to all the planets if the Sun disappeared?

15. Newton’s 1st Law: Inertia • (Notes Found in your History Notes under Newton) • Inertia: the tendency for an object to keep moving in the same direction and speed unless acted upon by an outside force. • More mass = greater inertia and the more force is needed to change its motion

16. Gravity • Gravitational review (if time) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoPKUY1n6aA&feature=related • What object in our solar system has the largest amount of gravity? Why? • Sun because it has the most mass (99.9%)

17. Laws of Universal Gravitation • (Notes Found in your History Notes under Newton) • Gravitational force: things with mass exerts attraction on other masses • “ The mutual gravitational attraction of the Sun and the planets, as expressed by Newton’s law of gravity, is responsible for the observed planetary orbits” (McMillan 37). • The Sun pulls the planets changing the planets forward motion into a curved path

18. Einstein's Theory of Relativity • “Time and space, according to Einstein's theories of relativity, are woven together, forming a four-dimensional fabric called "space-time." The mass of Earth dimples this fabric, much like a heavy person sitting in the middle of a trampoline. Gravity, says Einstein, is simply the motion of objects following the curvaceous lines of the dimple” (Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA) • Trap demo • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAqSCuHA0j8

19. Fun Facts

20. An inventory of the Solar System • 1 sun • 8 planets • 5 dwarf planets • 166 moons • 7 asteroids • more than 100 Kuiper belt objects larger than 300 km (200 miles) in diameter • 10s of thousands of smaller asteroids and Kuiper belt objects • Countless comets few km in diameter • Numerous meteoroids less than 100 m across • Sun makes up 99.9% of the solar systems mass

21. Videos • Time Travel • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X02WMNoHSm8&feature=related • Planet Review (if time) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBp68rhT_Sg