1. The Inner Planets
Chapter 14

2. The Inner Planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
Inner Planets are small, dense and have rocky surfaces.
Called “terrestrial” planets.

3. Earth Earth is made up of three layers: Only planet with liquid water
Crust – the solid rocky surface
Mantle – hot molten rock
Core – dense inner layer made of iron and nickel
Only planet with liquid water
Earth’s gravity keeps gases in to create our atmosphere (mostly oxygen and nitrogen)

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Earth
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5. Mercury Smallest inner planet (not much larger than Earth’s moon)
Closest to the sun
Mercury’s surface has flat plains and craters
Mercury has no atmosphere because it has very little gravity. Gases escape out into space as they heat up.
Mercury has extreme temperature difference (-170 °C to 430 °C) .

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Mercury
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7. Venus
Known as the ‘evening star’ because we can see it just after sunset.
Its density and structure are similar to Earth’s (Earth’s twin)
Venus’s day is longer than its year (day=8 months, Year = 7.5 months)
Rotates from east to west (opposite from other planets). A possible collision caused the change in direction.

8. Venus Venus has a very thick atmosphere
Weight of it would crush you
Mostly carbon dioxide
Clouds are made of droplets of sulfuric acid
Greenhouse effect traps the heat from the sun in making Venus the hottest planet
The surface of Venus is mostly rock with volcanoes and plains formed by lava flows

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Venus
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10. Mars The “red” planet from the break down of iron-rich rocks.
Atmosphere is more than 95 % carbon dioxide (similar to Venus). It is so thin that liquid cannot exist (would turn to gas in the atmosphere immediately)
Scientists believe that large amounts of water once flowed on Mars. This left huge canyons and the appearance of ancient coastlines.
Remaining water is frozen in Mar’s polar icecaps.

11. Mars Mars has a tilted axis so it has a changing seasons
Mars has 2 small moons (Phobos and Deimos)
Mars has giant volcanoes that appear to have erupted in the past.
They are not active now
Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the solar system (3 times the size of Mount Everest)

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Mars
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