Chapter 3: Planet Formation
Learning Objectives
By reading this chapter, attending lecture, and reviewing lecture content, you will be able to:
- Discriminate between meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites
- Describe the difference between chondrites vs. achondrites and stony meteorites vs irons vs stony irons.
- Explain the steps involved in the formation of planets (and other planetary bodies) from an accretionary disk
- Define differentiation and list the sources of heat that make this process possible
- Draw connections between the process of differentiation, the accretion of planets, and the different meteorite classes
- Compare and contrast the internal structure of the terrestrial planets
- Justify the size, location, and composition of the terrestrial vs. gas giant vs. ice giant planets
- Explain the effect of gravity on a planetary body’s shape and topography
