ASTR 1101 Chapter : CW13
Document Summary
Imagine a planet with the mass of mars that happened to have the same orbit as venus around our sun: what would its surface gravity be like? (compared to earth"s. The surface gravity would be just a bit higher than for mars, which is 0. 38g. [surface gravity depends on the mass and radius of the planet. A planet formed at venus" distance from the sun will have the same composition and hence density as venus (5. 2 gm/cc) which is a bit denser than that of mars itself (3. 9 gm/cc). Being slightly denser and the same mass as mars, the imagined planet"s radius will be slightly smaller (by just 9%) than the real. With the same mass and a slightly smaller radius, the imagined planet will have a slightly higher (by 21%) surface gravity than the real mars (0. 38g as given in the slides for the class).
