Worksheets#
The seven worksheet problem sets and their full solutions are collected on this page as the course runs. Each worksheet covers one two-lecture block and is discussed in the tutorial session for that block.
The worksheets are ungraded, and they have the same shape and level as the final written exam. Each one is sized for about two hours of work, entirely on paper. Work each problem through before opening the solutions: the solutions are complete, so reading them first removes most of the benefit.
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Problems |
Solutions |
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7 |
What each worksheet covers#
Orbits and formation (Introduction & History of Planetary Science, Planet Formation 101 & Orbital Dynamics): Kepler’s laws, the vis-viva equation, orbital resonances, tides and the Roche limit, gravitational focusing and the growth regimes.
Thermal evolution and differentiation (Planetary Heat & Energy Transport, Chemical Differentiation & Magnetospheres): radiogenic heating, cooling timescales and convective regimes, the thermal-evolution energy balance, core formation, dynamo feasibility.
Atmospheres (Atmospheres I: Composition, Structure, & Energy Balance, Atmospheres II: Clouds, Weather, & Climate): scale heights and column mass, radiative equilibrium and the greenhouse effect, cloud condensation and the lifting condensation level, the faint young Sun and the carbonate-silicate thermostat.
Surfaces and interiors (Planetary Surfaces: Geology, Geomorphology, & Geophysics, Planetary Interiors: Structure, Composition, & Dynamics): impact energetics, crater chronology, moment of inertia, central pressure.
Terrestrial planets (Rocky Planets, Earth & Venus, Rocky Planets, Mercury & Mars): comparative energy balance, water loss from Venus, the Martian volatile inventory, Mercury’s spin-orbit resonance.
Giant planets and small bodies (Gas & Ice Giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Meteorites, Asteroids, Minor Planets & Comets): interior transitions, ring dynamics, isotopic dating, Kirkwood gaps.
Exoplanets and habitable worlds (Exoplanets, Detection Methods, Demographics & Characterisation, Synthesis, Solar System in Context & Astrobiology): transit depths and detection bias, radial-velocity masses and bulk density, atmospheric scale heights and transmission spectroscopy, the habitable zone, direct imaging, the Drake equation.