8.1 The Solar System
9 exam questions worth 21 marks. Write your answer, open the mark scheme, then give yourself the marks you earned. Your answers are saved on this device.
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Which of these is the correct order of the planets, starting closest to the Sun?
Choose one answer.
Correct Not quite: the answer is Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
Mark scheme
B: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
Model answer
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars (B).
List the four rocky planets in order, starting with the planet closest to the Sun.
Mark scheme
Mercury, Venus (1); Earth, Mars (1)
Model answer
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
State what a moon is, and give one example.
Mark scheme
a natural satellite that orbits a planet (1); e.g. the Moon orbiting the Earth / Phobos around Mars (1)
Model answer
A moon is a natural satellite that orbits a planet, for example our Moon orbiting the Earth.
Describe how a comet's tail changes as it gets closer to the Sun, and the direction in which the tail points.
Mark scheme
the ice turns to gas / the tail gets bigger (1); the tail points away from the Sun (1)
Model answer
The tail gets bigger as the ice turns to gas and dust. It always points away from the Sun.
The planet Neptune is 4.5 × 10¹² m from the Sun. Calculate the time taken for light from the Sun to reach Neptune, in seconds. (speed of light = 3.0 × 10⁸ m/s)
Mark scheme
t = s ÷ v (1); 4.5 × 10¹² ÷ 3.0 × 10⁸ (1); 15 000 s (1)
Model answer
t = s / v = 4.5 × 10¹² / 3.0 × 10⁸ = 15 000 s (about 4.2 hours).
Describe how the Solar System was formed.
Mark scheme
a nebula of gas and dust collapsed under gravity (1); most of the material was pulled to the centre and the Sun formed (1); when it was hot and dense enough fusion started (1); the rest of the material formed a disc, and clumped together to form the planets (1)
Model answer
A nebula of gas and dust collapsed due to gravity. Most of it formed the Sun at the centre, where fusion started. The rest formed a disc in which the planets formed by clumping together.
State the main difference between the geocentric model and the heliocentric model.
Mark scheme
in the geocentric model the Earth is at the centre (1); in the heliocentric model the Sun is at the centre (1)
Model answer
In the geocentric model, the Earth is at the centre. In the heliocentric model, the Sun is at the centre.
Explain how Galileo's observations with a telescope helped to support the heliocentric model.
Mark scheme
he observed moons orbiting Jupiter (1); so not everything orbits the Earth (1); he also saw the phases of Venus which could not be explained by the geocentric model (1)
Model answer
Galileo saw four moons orbiting Jupiter, which showed that not everything orbits the Earth. He also saw the phases of Venus, which the geocentric model could not explain.
Explain why the planets that are furthest from the Sun take longer to complete an orbit.
Mark scheme
they have a longer path / larger orbit to travel (1); and move more slowly because the Sun's gravity is weaker at greater distance (1)
Model answer
They have a much longer distance to travel, and they move more slowly because the gravitational pull of the Sun is weaker further away.
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