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EAPS 105, The PlanetsExam 3 Study Guide
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From the lecture slides you should know the following:
Unit 7: Planetary Atmospheres
1. The main components of a primary atmosphere.
a. Hydrogen and Helium at the time of formation, also known as the primary
atmosphere
2. Which planets have kept their primary atmospheres.
a. Gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune)
3. The factors that influence the escape velocity of a planet.
a. gloMass of planet (Greater mass - greater escape velocity)
b. Radius of planet (Greater radius - lower escape velocity)
i. Of the two, mass is the more dominating factor
4. The planet with the highest escape velocity.
a. Jupiter, 59.54 km/s
5. The factors that influence the velocity of an atmospheric gas molecule.
a. Temperature (higher temp. = faster movement)
b. atomic weight (lighter atomic weight = faster movement)
6. The combination of factors that lead to the fastest gas molecule velocities.
a. High temperature, low atomic weight
7. The heaviest gas that should be retained by Mars’ atmosphere.
a. Carbon Dioxide
8. How Earth obtained most of the oxygen (O2) in its atmosphere.
a. Life (microbes) converted most of the CO2 into O2.
i. CO2 was originally from volcanism, O2 was a byproduct of microbes
converting CO2 to O2
ii. Little CO2 remained in the preindustrial atmosphere
9. The major differences between the atmospheres of Earth and Venus.
a. Dense CO2 with some Nitrogen in Venus.
i. 96% CO2, 3% N2
, b. The distance from the sun led to the difference in atmospheres. In the beginning
Venus might have been like the original Earth with water but the Sun boiled off
most of the water and baked the rocks producing CO2.
c. Venus has 90 times the atmospheric pressure
d. Has a surface temperature of 465 C (860 F) with sulfuric acid clouds
10. The major differences between the atmospheres of Venus and Mars.
a. Mars had an early atmosphere dense enough to retain heat and surface water
but it could not hold onto the atmosphere causing its surface temperature to drop
and lose surface water.
b. The main difference is the presence of CO2. (Venus and Mars were both fit for
life at one point of time)
c. Venus’ atmosphere is 15000 times denser than Mars’
i. Earth’s atmosphere is 166 times denser than Mars’ r
11. The ability of a low-density atmosphere to blow things around.
a. Mars winds carry little force, even at 100 km/hr (maximum for Mars)
a. They cannot blow around things or objects bigger than grains of sand. Even
something like salt (coarser graisolar windns) would be too heavy.
12. The presence of dust devils active on Mars.
a. 15-100m wide; 1-20km high. About once per square km of surface per day.
b. Millions of them at all times solar wind
c. They move fine grains of sand and change the Martian surface.
It would have taken millions of years. If we could terraform Mars (we can’t) the
new atmosphere would be stable for quite a while.
a. If that was the case, then why has Venus not lost its atmosphere? It has no
magnetic field and is twice as close to the sun. Studterrestrialies suggest the
higher gravity on Venus did not make a difference.
13. How the layers of terrestrial planetary atmospheres defined.
a. Defined by how temperature Alternates between heating and cooling with
altitude. troposphere
b. From low to high these layers are:
i. Troposphere
ii. Stratosphere
iii. Mesosphere
iv. Thermosphere
14. The atmospheric layer that weather and clouds exist in
a. Troposphere
15. Why the temperature of the troposphere decreases with altitude.
a. Heated from the ground
b. Warmest near the surface
c. Decrease of pressure
16. Why the temperature of the stratosphere increases with altitude.
a. Due to UV sunlight being absorbed by ozone.
17. The atmospheric layers present on Venus and Mars.
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