CONCEPT NOTES 2

I. TOPIC: SOLAR SYSTEM

II. LEARNING GOAL: The students should be able to:
a. identify the large scale and small-scale properties of the Solar System;
b. discuss the different hypotheses explaining the origin of the solar system;
c. explain the significance of the most recent advancement/information on the Solar System.
III. CONCEPTS
❖ The solar system is located in the Milky Way galaxy (a huge disc- and spiral-shaped aggregation
of about at least 100 billion stars and other bodies)
⮚ Its spiral arms rotate around a globular cluster or bulge of many, many stars, at the center of
which lies a supermassive blackhole;
⮚ This galaxy is about 100 million light years across (1 light year = 9.4607 × 1012 km; ⮚ The solar
system revolves around the galactic center once in about 240 million years; ⮚ The Milky Way is
part of the so-called Local Group of galaxies, which in turn is part of the Virgo supercluster of
galaxies.
⮚ Based on the assumption that they are remnants of the materials from which they were
formed, radioactive dating of meteorites, suggests that the Earth and solar system are 4.6
billion years old. on the assumption that they are remnants of the materials from which
they were formed.

“Large Scale Features of the Solar System”

1. Much of the mass of the Solar System is concentrated at the center (Sun) while angular
momentum is held by the outer planets.
2. Orbits of the planets elliptical and are on the same plane.
3. All planets revolve around the sun.
4. The periods of revolution of the planets increase with increasing distance from the Sun; the
innermost planet moves fastest, the outermost, the slowest;
5. All planets are located at regular intervals from the Sun.

“Small scale features of the Solar System”

1. Most planets rotate prograde.
2. Inner terrestrial planets are made of materials with high melting points such as silicates,
iron, and nickel.
✔ They rotate slower, have thin or no atmosphere, higher densities, and lower contents of
volatiles - hydrogen, helium, and noble gases.
3. The outer four planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are called "gas giants" because
of the dominance of gases and their larger size.
✔ They rotate faster, have thick atmosphere, lower densities, and fluid interiors rich in
hydrogen, helium and ices (water, ammonia, methane).

“Element Abundance on Earth, Meteorites, and Universe”

1. Except for hydrogen, helium, inert gases, and volatiles, the universe and Earth have similar
abundance especially for rock and metal elements.
2. The sun and the large planets have enough gravity to retain hydrogen and helium. ✔ Rare
inert gases are too light for the Earth’s gravity to retain, thus the low abundance. 3. Retention of
volatile elements by the Earth is consistent with the idea that some materials that formed the
Earth and the solar system were “cold” and solid; otherwise, the volatiles would have been lost.

1
✔ These suggest that the Earth and the solar system could be derived from materials with
 composition similar to that of the universe.
4. The presence of heavy elements such as lead, silver, and uranium on Earth suggests that it
was derived from remnants of a supernova and that the Sun is a second-generation star
made by recycling materials.

“Origin of the Solar System”

⮚ Any acceptable scientific thought on the origin of the solar system has to be consistent with
and supported by information about it (e.g. large and small-scale features, composition).
There will be a need to revise currently accepted ideas should data no longer support them.

1. Rival Theories- Many theories have been proposed since about four centuries ago. Each has
weaknesses in explaining all characteristics of the solar system.

2. Nebular Hypothesis- In the 1700s Emanuel Swedenborg, Immanuel Kant, and Pierre-Simon
Laplace independently thought of a rotating gaseous cloud that cools and contracts in the
middle to form the sun and the rest into a disc that become the planets. This nebular theory
failed to account for the distribution of angular momentum in the solar system.

3. Encounter Hypotheses:
A. Buffon’s (1749) Sun-Comet encounter that sent matter to form planet;
B. James Jeans’ (1917) Sun-Star
encounter that would have drawn
from the sun matter that would
condense to planets,
C. T.C. Chamberlain and F. R.
Moulton’s (1904)
Planetesimal Hypothesis involving
a star much
bigger than the Sun passing by the
Sun and
draws gaseous filaments from
both out which
planetesimals were formed;
D. Ray Lyttleton’s (1940) sun’s
companion star
colliding with another to form a Proto-Planet
that breaks up to form Jupiter and Saturn.
E. Otto Schmidt’sAccretion Theory proposed that
the Sun passed through a dense interstellar
cloud and emerged with a dusty, gaseous
envelope that eventually became the planets. However, it cannot explain how the planets
and satellites were formed. The time required to form the planets exceeds the age of the
solar system.
F. M.M. Woolfson’sCapture Theory is a variation of James Jeans’near-collision hypothesis. In
this scenario, the Sun drags from a near proto-star a filament of material which becomes the
planets. Collisions between proto-planets close to the Sun produced the terrestrial planets;
condensations in the filament produced the giant planets and their satellites. Different ages
for the Sun and planets are predicted by this theory.
 4. Sun - Star interaction
⮚ Nobel Prize winner Harold Urey’s compositional studies on meteorites in the 1950s and other
scientists’ work on these objects led to the conclusion that meteorite constituents

2
have changed very little since the solar system’s early history and can give clues about their
formation. The currently accepted theory on the origin of the solar system relies much on
information from meteorites.

5. Protoplanet Hypothesis - Current Hypothesis

A. About 4.6 billion years ago, in the Orion arm of the Milky Way galaxy, a slowly-rotating gas
and dust cloud dominated by hydrogen and helium starts to contract due to gravity B. As most
of the mass move to the center to eventually become a proto-Sun, the remaining materials form
a disc that will eventually become the planets and momentum is transferred outwards.
C. Due to collisions, fragments of dust and solid matter begin sticking to each other to form
larger and larger bodies from meter to kilometer in size. These proto-planets are accretions
of frozen water, ammonia, methane, silicon, aluminum, iron, and other metals in rock and
mineral grains enveloped in hydrogen and helium.
D. High-speed collisions with large objects destroy much of the mantle of Mercury, puts Venus
in retrograde rotation.
E. Collision of the Earth with large object produces the moon. This is supported by the
composition of the moon very similar to the Earth's Mantle
F. When the proto-Sun is established as a star, its solar wind blasts hydrogen, helium, and
volatiles from the inner planets to beyond Mars to form the gas giants leaving behind a
system we know today.

IV. ACTIVITY/EXERCISES
Direction: Draw how solar system looks like and describe your work.
 3
V. ASSESSMENT
I. Multiple Choice: Choose and write the letter of the correct answer before the number.

1) What is the estimated age of the Solar system?

a. 13.8 billion years c. 4. 6 billion years
b. 4.3 billion years d. 4.5 billion years
2) Where the Solar system located?
a. Andromeda c. Cartwheel Galaxy
b. Black Eye Galaxy d. Milky Way
3) How most planets rotate?
a. Retrograde c. Doesn’t rotate
b. Prograde d. None of the above
4) What will happen to the period of revolution of the planets if the distance increasing from the
sun?
a. The periods of revolution of the planets will decrease
b. The periods of revolution of the planets will increase
c. The periods of revolution of the planets will remain constant
d. None of the above
5) What are the characteristics of inner terrestrial planets?
a. It is made of materials with high melting points such as silicates, iron, and nickel.
b. They rotate faster, have thick atmosphere, low densities.
c. Dominance of gases and have a larger size.
d. None of the above
 6) How nebular hypothesis formed?
a. A rotating gaseous cloud that cools and contracts in the middle to form the sun and the rest
into a disc that becomes the planets.
b. The Sun drags from a near proto-star a filament of material which becomes the planets. c. In
the Orion arm of the Milky Way galaxy, a slowly-rotating gas and dust cloud dominated by
hydrogen and helium starts to contract due to gravity
d. Sun’s companion star colliding with another to form a proto-planet that breaks up to form
Jupiter and Saturn.

II. IDENTIFICATION: Answer the following questions.

7-8. Based from the hypothesis or theories being proposed, what theory/ hypothesis is
widely accepted view or most accurate in explaining about the formation of the solar
system?

9-10. How does scientist measure/determine the age of the solar system?