Imagine a trans-Neptunian object with roughly the same mass as Earth but located
ID: 116980 • Letter: I
Question
Imagine a trans-Neptunian object with roughly the same mass as Earth but located 50 AU
from the sun.
a. Based on the solar nebula theory, what do you think this
object would be made of? Explain your reasoning.
b. On the basis of this speculation, assume a reasonable density for this object and
calculate its diameter in units of Earth radii. (Hint: it will be bigger than Earth.)
Explanation / Answer
Nebula theory states about the origin of the solar system. The rotation of dust materials and aggregation of particles to planets with time elapsed. By conservation of angular momentum, the nearer plantes to the axis of rotaion are more denser. Thus if mass of this planet is similar to the earth and having a 50 times more distance, it must be much less denser than the earth.
B. The diameter plays as important factor in volume calculation which is an estimation of density for given mass value. It may have density of planet Saturn or Uranus.