What is the easiest way to distinguish planets;amidst the backdrop of stars,on a clear,dark night???

Question

Thanks for the extra detail.........

Answer 1

there are only five planets that can be seen with the naked eye.
Mercury and Venus show up slightly above the horizon at either sunset or sunrise. This is because their orbits are inside the earth's orbit. Mars Jupiter and Saturn, when they are visible in the night sky are in the same general path that the sun takes as it appears to pass over our sky. Mars and jupiter are easy to spot as they are generally very large. Saturn looks smaller as it is nearly twice as far away as Jupiter.
check out an astronomy site and they will show you were to look for the planets and when they will be visible.
gl

Answer 2

Easiest way to tell which are stars and which are planets on a clear night is that the stars twinkle. Not very scientific, but it's due to the burning gases etc. Planets, as they merely reflect the light of stars, appear to burn bright and steady with no flickering or twinkling.