Lesson 171 of 1524
Comets and Asteroids: Debris of the Solar System
The rocky ones are generally called asteroids.
Practice this chapterThe rocky ones are generally called asteroids. Ceres is the largest asteroid; about 15 are larger than 250 kilometers and about 100,000 are larger than 1 kilometer.
Most are in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The presence of asteroid families in the belt indicates that many asteroids are the remnants of ancient collisions and fragmentation.
asteroid — a stony or metallic object orbiting the Sun that is smaller than a planet but that shows no evidence of an atmosphere or of other types of activity associated with comets. comet — a small body of icy and dusty matter that revolves about the Sun; when a comet comes near the Sun, some of its material vaporizes, forming a large head of tenuous gas and often a…. asteroid belt — the region of the solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in which most asteroids are located; the main belt, where the orbits are generally the most stable, extends…. largest asteroid; about 15 — larger than 250 kilometers and about 100,000 are larger than 1 kilometer.
Worked example
What does “asteroid” mean in Comets and Asteroids: Debris of the Solar System?
- 1Use the wording this chapter gives for asteroid.
- 2The book says: a stony or metallic object orbiting the Sun that is smaller than a planet but that shows no evidence of an atmosphere or of other types of activity associated with comets.
- 3Do not use the meaning of comet. That term means a small body of icy and dusty matter that revolves about the Sun; when a comet comes near the Sun, some of its material vaporizes, forming a large head of tenuous gas and often a….
Result: a stony or metallic object orbiting the Sun that is smaller than a planet but that shows no evidence of an atmosphere or of other types of activity associated with comets
Why. That is the meaning this chapter gives for asteroid.
Do not swap asteroid and comet. asteroid means a stony or metallic object orbiting the Sun that is smaller than a planet but that shows no evidence of an atmosphere or of other types of activity associated with comets. comet means a small body of icy and dusty matter that revolves about the Sun; when a comet comes near the Sun, some of its material vaporizes, forming a large head of tenuous gas and often a….
Practice margin
This chapter
A fresh set from this chapter only. Choose 10 or 20. Multiple choice and fill-in, with no repeat inside the set.