Let’s play a little bit with changing the masses of planets and how they might h

Question

Let’s play a little bit with changing the masses of planets and how they might have formed.
a. Imagine that a new planet is discovered in our solar system with a mass of
5.97×1025 kg and a radius of 12,800 km. Based just on its density, would we
consider it the largest terrestrial planet or the smallest jovian planet? Explain.
(Hint: be careful to convert your density to grams per cubic centimeter for
comparison with the data in Chapter 7).
b. How massive would Earth have been if it had accreted hydrogen compounds in
addition to rock and metal (assume the same proportions of the ingredients as
listed in Table 8.1).
c. Now imagine that the Earth had been able to capture hydrogen and helium gas in
the same proportions as listed in Table 8.1. How massive would it have been?

Explanation / Answer

A. Density = mass / volume

= 5.97*10^25 kg/((4/3)pi*r^3)

5.97*10^25/8.77*10^21

=6.8*10^3 kg/m3

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