AST101H5 Lecture : AST101-Chapter 8.txt
Document Summary
The jovian planets share these physical properties (from ch 6): 1. large masses - 14. 5 to 318 x mass of earth. 2. large diameters - 3. 88 to 11. 2 x diameter of earth. 3. large volumes (d^3) - 58 to 1400 x volume of earth. 4. small average densities = mass / volume -> from 0. 71 to 1. 67 g/cm^3 simil ar to water = 1 g/cm^3. 5. very different from the rock and metal of earth. 1. lightest element is hydrogen - nucleus has only 1 proton. 2. second lightest element is helium - nucleus has 2 electrons and 2 neutron s. 3. conclusion: the jovian planets are 99% (by count) hydrogen + helium. Sunlight reflects from the jovian planets and come to earth. Gas in the atmosphere absorbs specific wavelengths = kirchhoff"s 3rd law (p. 1. The absorption wavelengths contain the patterns of many hydrogen molecules:
