Science fiction authors suggest that a planet named "Vulcan" might orbit between Mercury and the Sun. If Vulcan really existed in this location then it should
A. be mainly composed of rock and metal
B. be mainly composed of hydrogen and helium
C. have a density about the same as the density of water
D. be at least as large as Uranus
2007-10-13 15:51:19 · 5 answers · asked by tdoby3 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
That helped, thank you
2007-10-13 16:07:41 · update #1
If it were mostly hydrogen and helium, then it would not have lasted very long: the atoms of H and He are very light so that the photons from the sun would have given them lots of speed (temperature = speed in Brownian movement) and they would have escaped into space (the planet would have evaporated).
If it were as large as a gas giant, we would have seen it by now.
Being so close to the Sun, it would be a 'terrestrial' planet, with a density far greater than that of water.
2007-10-13 16:00:06 · answer #1 · answered by Raymond 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Let's just think this out using some common sense for just a moment (I know, its so much easier to just ask and hope some poor sucker that actually learned how to learn in school will answer).
If its closer to the sun than Mercury, it couldn't be hydrogen and helium - those gases are too light to be held by a small planet's gravity that close to the sun.
It couldn't be as large as Uranus or we would have detected the planets centuries ago (if it was that large, the ancients would have seen it and it would have appeared even brighter (but so much closer to the sun) than Venus.
Density is tricky, but the density of water means that the planet would have to be mostly water or gases, and that close to the sun it wouldn't survive.
So the answer (by common sense process of thinking about the answers for a minute) must be A. rock and metal.
2007-10-13 15:57:21 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
SCIENCE FICTION AUTHORS?
sorry about the shouting, but hey... was this question written by a science teacher? if so, he needs to try Googling 'Vulcan'.
the hypothetical planet wasn't invented by a writer, it was a response to observations of the orbit of Mercury.
we know now that the perturbations of the orbit were due to a relativistic effect from the gravitational field of the Sun. But before Einstein, people were looking for Vulcan.
Read the article:
2007-10-13 17:57:57 · answer #3 · answered by Faesson 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What does someone being a creationist or a scientist have to do with whether or not Pluto orbits the sun? I do not see a connection between the two.
2016-05-22 07:43:28 · answer #4 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A. be mainly composed of rock and metal
2007-10-13 16:50:24 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋