NATS 1880 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Maria Maria, Inverse-Square Law, Basalt
27 Aug 2015
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Document Summary
Life on earth uses 25 of the 92 elements. C,o,h,n make up 96% of the mass of living organisms. Likely not a problem for almost any planet and any form of life. Elements by themselves not sufficient to allow life to form. All planets likely get bombarded from space with rocks carrying some acids (molecules) needed organic molecules. Energy source to allow metabolic functions is often supplied by. The further from the sun you go, the fainter it becomes (inverse square law). Thus life in the further reaches of the solar system is handicapped by a lack of solar energy. At 3 au, the sun is only 1/(3x3) = 1/9 as bright as at 1 au. On earth, water is essential for the dissolving and transport of organic materials, metabolic processes. Perhaps but must be abundant and remain liquid for a reasonable range of temperature. Chemical reactions proceed faster at higher temperatures.
