21^st Century Astronomy, Second Edition

Chapter 9: Worlds of Gas and Liquid—The Giant Planets

Study Plan

Unlike the solid planets of the inner Solar System, four worlds in the outer Solar System were able to capture and retain gases and volatile materials from the Sun's protoplanetary disk and swell to enormous size and mass. Examining these giant planets, we will discover

• Atmospheres and oceans, but no solid surfaces.
• Two "gas giants," primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, and two "ice giants," primarily composed of water and other volatile materials.
• How changes in temperature and pressure with increasing depth lead to changes in the chemical composition of clouds in giant planet atmospheres.
• Gravitational energy being converted into thermal energy in the interiors of three giant planets, driving strong convection in their atmospheres.
• How the Coriolis effect on these rapidly rotating worlds turns convective motions into powerful winds, huge storms, and planet-spanning bands of multihued clouds.
• Extreme conditions deep within the interiors of the giant planets.
• Brilliant auroras and glowing doughnuts of gas associated with the huge magnetospheres and strong magnetic fields of the giant planets.

Organize

1. Read Chapter 9 in your textbook or ebook.
2. Take the Diagnostic Quiz to assess your understanding of the basic concepts and identify gaps in your understanding of the assigned reading.

Learn

1. Use the FlashCards to test your memory for new terms.
2. Review Foundations Box 9.1 on Synchrotron Emission—From Planets to Quasars. Read the three Excursions boxes for this chapter:
• Box 9.1: How Wind Speeds on Distant Planets Are Measured
• Box 9.2: Primordial Energy
• Box 9.3: Strange Behavior in the Realm of Ultrahigh Pressure
3. If your instructor has assigned SmartWork online homework, login from the right navigation pane for additional practice and review.

Connect

1. Periodic Connections boxes and the Seeing the Forest through the Trees section at the chapter's end draw your attention to recurring themes and help prepare you for concepts explored more fully in subsequent chapters.
2. Visit Astronomy in the News for breaking news of new discoveries and the opportunity to apply what you've learned in this chapter to real-world (and real Universe) events.

Instructors now have an easy way to collect students’ online quizzes with the Norton Gradebook without flooding their inboxes with e-mails.

Students can track their online quiz scores by setting up their own Student Gradebook.