Solar System B

[rfscoach]

I just uploaded the Solar System Test that I made for the Fulton Science Academy Div B Invitational that was held on Sat. Dec. 11, 2010. I gave it a test run on one member of the FSA 2010 National Team (9th in Solar System) earlier in the week. He scored 55/60. Top scores at the competition were 44, 42, 38, 35. Any feed back about the format and questions would be appreciated.

I can't find this, where is it uploaded? I checked the 2011 Test Exchange and it is not showing up.

Fixed it. The test is now available on the 2011 Test exchange.

[HannahD413]

What is the difference between a plutoid and Trans-Neptunian Object?

[AlphaTauri]

A Trans-Neptunian Object is anything (comets, plutoids, interplanetary dust particles, whatever) with an orbit that is all or mostly farther than Neptune.

A plutoid is a type of Trans-Neptunian Object, specifically a dwarf planet (i.e. must be spherical) orbiting beyond Neptune.

Google and Wikipedia are your friends.

[HannahD413]

Yeah, I figured it out shortly after posting, but thanks.

[Kevin Cheng]

Can you guys explain to me what are Lagrangian points, tidal effects, and Roche's limit? REALLY NEED THE HELP

[brobo]

Can you guys explain to me what are Lagrangian points, tidal effects, and Roche's limit? REALLY NEED THE HELP

I don't know how much of the first and last you will need to know, but it's probably a good idea to have a general understanding of them anways.
Lagrangian points: lets say you have two bodies, for example the Earth and the Moon. The Lagrangian points are the five points at which another body would stay still between those two bodies. This is a great picture showing this effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lagrange_points2.svg
Tidal effects: this one is really important. A satalite orbiting a planet will sometimes have a pulling effect on the planet similar to taking a round rubber band and pulling it slightly. This can cause the water to be lifted slightly, causing low tide, and the opposite for high tide. There is also something called tidal locking. Tidal locking occurs when a satalite's orbit is slowed until it's orbit matches it's revolution, such as what has happened with our moon. One side always faces us. In some rare cases when a satalite is large enough compared to the planet. the same will happen to the planet, and both will be tidally locked. This has happened with Pluto and Charon.
Roche's Limit- let's imagine a planet. This planet is fairly massive and has a few moons orbiting it. One of them happens to be pure water. This water moon is orbiting quite a ways away, so it's perfectly spherical. However, this moon is moving towards the planet. There is a line around a planet called Roche's Limit. As this moon approaches that line, it will become elongated. As soon as it passes this line, the pull of the planet will be too strong for the moon to maintain it's shape, and it will disinigrate. Look at the diagram to the right on this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roche's_limit

I hope that helped! Good luck.

[Kevin Cheng]

Thx for the help. It helped me alot!

Can you guys explain to me what are Lagrangian points, tidal effects, and Roche's limit? REALLY NEED THE HELP

I don't know how much of the first and last you will need to know, but it's probably a good idea to have a general understanding of them anways.
Lagrangian points: lets say you have two bodies, for example the Earth and the Moon. The Lagrangian points are the five points at which another body would stay still between those two bodies. This is a great picture showing this effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lagrange_points2.svg
Tidal effects: this one is really important. A satalite orbiting a planet will sometimes have a pulling effect on the planet similar to taking a round rubber band and pulling it slightly. This can cause the water to be lifted slightly, causing low tide, and the opposite for high tide. There is also something called tidal locking. Tidal locking occurs when a satalite's orbit is slowed until it's orbit matches it's revolution, such as what has happened with our moon. One side always faces us. In some rare cases when a satalite is large enough compared to the planet. the same will happen to the planet, and both will be tidally locked. This has happened with Pluto and Charon.
Roche's Limit- let's imagine a planet. This planet is fairly massive and has a few moons orbiting it. One of them happens to be pure water. This water moon is orbiting quite a ways away, so it's perfectly spherical. However, this moon is moving towards the planet. There is a line around a planet called Roche's Limit. As this moon approaches that line, it will become elongated. As soon as it passes this line, the pull of the planet will be too strong for the moon to maintain it's shape, and it will disinigrate. Look at the diagram to the right on this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roche's_limit

I hope that helped! Good luck.

[germinator]

would TNOs (trans neptunian objects) include objects outside the kuiper belt/oort cloud?

[brobo]

would TNOs (trans neptunian objects) include objects outside the kuiper belt/oort cloud?

No, TNO's are inside the Oort cloud. You should know all about them for the tests.

[MeteorologyMan]

I just uploaded the Solar System Test that I made for the Fulton Science Academy Div B Invitational that was held on Sat. Dec. 11, 2010. I gave it a test run on one member of the FSA 2010 National Team (9th in Solar System) earlier in the week. He scored 55/60. Top scores at the competition were 44, 42, 38, 35. Any feed back about the format and questions would be appreciated.

I can't find this, where is it uploaded? I checked the 2011 Test Exchange and it is not showing up.

Fixed it. The test is now available on the 2011 Test exchange.

It is a good test! I ( on my own and with only 1 double sided sheet) got approximately 39.5 points. I did this event last year, and got 4th at nationals.