Question

(i) List the planets in sequence, according to their distance from the Sun?

(ii) Differentiate between inner and outer planets.

Answer 1

1)List of the planets according to their distance from the Sun

Mercury : average distance 58 million km (36 million miles)

Minimum Distance from Sun: 46.0 million km (28.6 million miles)

Maximum Distance from Sun: 69.8 million km (43.4 million miles)

Venus : average distance 108 million km (67 million miles)

Minimum Distance from Sun: 108 million km (67 million miles)

Maximum Distance from Sun: 109 million km (68 million miles)

Earth : average distance 149.6 million km (93 million miles)

Minimum Distance from Sun: 146 million km (91 million miles)

Maximum Distance from Sun: 152 million km (94.5 million miles)

Mars : average distance 228 million km (142 million miles)

Minimum Distance from Sun: 205 million km (128 million miles)

Maximum Distance from Sun: 249 million km (155 million miles)

Jupiter : average distance 778.5 million km (484 million miles)

Minimum Distance from Sun: 741 million km (460 million miles)

Maximum Distance from Sun: 817 million km (508 million miles)

Saturn : average distance 1.43 billion km (891 million miles)

Minimum Distance from Sun: 1.35 billion km (840 million miles)

Maximum Distance from Sun: 1.5 billion km (938 million miles)

Uranus: average distance 2.88 billion km (1.79 billion miles)

Minimum Distance from Sun: 2.7 billion km (1.7 billion miles)

Maximum Distance from Sun: 3 billion km (1.87 billion miles)

Neptune: average distance 4.5 billion km (2.8 billion miles)

Minimum Distance from Sun: 4.46 billion km (2.77 billion miles)

Maximum Distance from Sun: 4.54 billion km (2.82 billion miles)

2)DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE INNER AND OUTER PLANETS

Orbiting the Sun are eight planets. Despite all of these planets being different from each other, they can be put into two groups. One group contains the four planets closest to the Sun - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. These are known as the Inner Planets or the Terrestrial Planets. The other group contains the four planets furthest from the Sun - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These are known as the Outer Planets or the Gas Giants. The two groups are separated by the Asteroid Belt, a region of thousands of asteroids in orbit of the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Below is a table containing differences between the two groups of planets.

THE INNER PLANETS Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars	THE OUTER PLANETS Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
Small size Earth is the largest of the Inner Planets, with a diameter of 12,756 km (7,926 miles). Mercury is the smallest with a diameter of 4,878 km (3,031 miles)	Huge in size Jupiter, the largest planet, has a diameter of 142,984 km (88,846 miles). Neptune is the smallest of the Outer Planets with a diameter of 49,532 km (30,779 miles)
Have solid surfaces and thin/no atmospheres In theory, it would be possible to stand on each of the Inner Planets, although you would only survive on Earth.	Balls of gas with no surface Most of the Outer Planets are made of gas. It is likely that they have a much smaller solid or liquid centre. It would be impossible to stand on any of the Outer Planets.
Greater Density The size and composition of the planets is caused by the density of the elements that make up the planets. The elements in the Inner Planets are more closely packed together, causing them to be smaller on solid.	Smaller Density Despite being larger, the elements that make up the Outer Planets are less densely packed together causing them to be quite light for their size.
Varied atmospheres The contents of the atmospheres of the Inner Planets varies from planet to planet. Mercury has no atmosphere although Sodium and Helium can be detected above the surface. Venus' atmosphere is mostly Carbon Dioxide with a very small amount of Nitrogen. Earth's atmosphere is mostly Nitrogen with a smaller amount of Oxygen and even smaller amounts of other gases. Mars has a similar composition of carbon dioxide and nitrogen as Venus although has a much thinner atmosphere.	Similar atmospheres The atmospheres of the Outer Planets consist mostly of Hydrogen and Helium, with Methane also being present in the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune. Other gases are present although in much smaller quantities.
Known by the ancients The existence of the Inner Planets has been known about for thousands of years. The earliest astronomers didn't know that the four objects (including Earth) were planets, but they knew they existed.	Not known by the ancients Of the Outer Planets, only Jupiter and Saturn were observed by ancient astronomers. The existence of Uranus and Neptune was not known until relatively recently. Uranus was discovered in 1781 and Neptune in 1846.
Spin slowly Compared to the much larger Outer Planets, the Inner Planets spin quite slowly. Earth spins the quickest, taking 23 hours and 56 minutes to spin on its axis. Venus takes 243 days to spin on its axis, spinning in an opposite direction to the other planets.	Spin quickly All of the Outer Planets spin quicker than the Inner Planets. Uranus spins slowest, taking 17 hours and 14 minutes to spin on its axis. Jupiter takes only 9 hours and 55 minutes to spin on its axis. This rapid rotation causes Jupiter and Saturn to appear squashed, wider across the equator than from top to bottom.
Orbit the Sun quickly Because they are quite close to the Sun, the Inner Planets complete an orbit quickly. Mercury takes only 88 days to orbit the Sun. Mars takes 687 days.	Orbit the Sun slowly The Outer Planets orbit the Sun from millions of miles and have a much greater distance to cover to complete an orbit, so take much longer to do so. Jupiter takes almost 12 years to complete an orbit and Neptune takes over 164 years.
Few Moons Only Earth and Mars have moons orbiting them. One moon orbits Earth and two small moons orbit Mars.	Lots of Moons All of the Outer Planets have many moons orbiting them. There are 63 moons known to orbit Jupiter, 60 orbiting Saturn, 27 orbiting Uranus and 13 orbiting Neptune.
No rings None of the Inner Planets have rings orbiting them	Rings All of the Outer Planets have rings orbiting them. The rings are thin discs of dust and rocks possibly caused by moons being broken up or not being completely formed while orbiting the planet. Saturn has the most visible ring system of any of the planets.
Multiple space craft visitors Due to being close to Earth, there have been several missions to the other Inner Planets, especially to Mars and Venus. Mercury has been visited by two spacecrafts.	All Outer Planets visited by one space craft There have been multiple visits to Jupiter and Saturn, but Uranus and Neptune have only been visited once. This was by Voyager 2 (which also visited Jupiter and Saturn).