Physics 110: Assignment 5

Due Wednesday, October 16.

  1. Knowing what you know about Venus, why would you expect to find very few small craters on its surface, but very many small craters on the surface of the Moon?

  2. We have never landed anything on Mercury, yet we are very confident that the large craters on its surface are about 4 billion years old, the same age as the large craters on the surface of the Moon. Why do we believe that this is true? (Hint: history)

  3. The moons of Jupiter are made mostly of ice. Would you expect the temperatures on the surfaces of the moons to be higher, lower, or about the same as the temperature at the surface of Jupiter? Why? How should the surface temperatures of the moons compare with each other?

Published by NDSU Department of Physics
Douglas A. Kurtze
E-mail: kurtze@plains.nodak.edu
Phone: (701) 231-7048
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