UNIT 1 UNIVERSE AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Lesson 1.1 Origin of the Universe

1. The Big Bang Theory

About 13.7 billion years ago.
It started from a hot, dense state that has undergone inflation, a short but rapid expansion to
become the universe.
It started in 1927 with Georges Lemaitre. He used Edwin Hubbles discovery about the
expanding universe to support his theory.
Edwin Hubble discovered that the galaxies are moving away from each other at high speeds.
George Gamow developed this theory. He hypothesized that the big bang produced helium
and other heavier elements.
Big Bangs several major events:
1. Electroweak era- began at 1038 seconds after the Big Bang, when the temperature of the
universe cooled enough to separate the Strong Force from the Electroweak Force (the name
for the two unified forces of Electro-magnetism and the Weak Nuclear Force). The
Electroweak Era contains two sub-eras - Inflation and Reheating.
2. Particle Era- formed 1010 seconds to 0.001 seconds
3. Nucleosynthesis- followed for the next 3 minutes where protons, neutrons, electrons and
neutrinos dominated and antimatter became rare. (Antimatter is a material composed of the
antiparticle "partners" to the corresponding particles of ordinary matter).
4. Era of Nuclei
5. Era of Atoms- where atoms are formed and photons are released forming the microwave
background.
6. Era of Galaxies- it was only after 1 billion years since the big bang when the first galaxy was
formed.

2. Steady State Theory

Established by Fred Hoyle and his colleagues, Hermann Bondi and Tommy Gold in the 1940s.
Started with the assumption that the universe has always been and always will be the same.
The idea was based on the cosmological principle that the universe is uniform in space and
has unchanging time. They also believe that the universe is expanding and that new matter is
being created thereby keeping the density the same and assumed that the age of stars will
be the same.
Though it was a promising theory, it was disproved because the evidence suggested that the
universe is in fact changing.

3. Oscillating Universe Theory and Eternal Inflation Theory

It believes that the universe currently exists between the big bang and the big crunch, one of
the predicted ends of the universe. And that the current universe is just one of the many series
of universes created by a cycle of big bangs and big crunches.
Eternal inflation theory supposes that instead of ending in a big crunch as the oscillating
universe deemed, the inflation never stopped. (The Big Crunch is one possible scenario for the
ultimate fate of the universe, in which the metric
expansion of space eventually reverses and the universe
recollapses, ultimately causing the cosmic scale factor to
reach zero or causing a reformation of the universe
starting with another Big Bang.-Wikipedia, 2017)

Lesson 1.2 Origin of the Solar System

1. Encounter Hypothesis
In this scenario, a rogue star passes close to the Sun about
5 billion years ago. Material, in the form of hot gas, is
tidally stripped from the Sun and the rogue star. This
material fragments into smaller lumps which form the
planets. This hypothesis has the advantage of explaining
why the planets all revolve in the same direction (from the

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 encounter geometry) and also provides an explanation for why the inner worlds are denser
than the outer worlds.

2. Protoplanet Hypothesis
The current working model for the formation of the Solar System. It incorporates many of the
components of the nebular hypothesis, but adds some new aspects from modern knowledge
of fluids and states of matter.

3. Nebular Hypothesis
Describes the formation of our solar system from a nebula cloud made from a collection of
dust and gas. It is believed that the sun, planets, moons, and asteroids were formed around
the same time around 4.5 billion years ago from a nebula.

4. Condensation Theory
According to the condensation theory, the planets formed in three stages:
1. Condensation nuclei- dust grains in the solar nebula formed this around which matter
began to accumulate. This vital step greatly hastened the critical process of forming the first
small clumps of matter. Once these clumps formed, they grew rapidly by sticking to other
clumps. As the clumps grew larger, their surface areas increased and consequently the rate at
which they swept up new material accelerated. They gradually grew into objects of pebble
size, baseball size, basketball size, and larger.
2. Process of accretion- the gradual growth of small objects by collision and sticking; created
objects a few hundred kilometers across. By that time, their gravity was strong enough to
sweep up material that would otherwise not have collided with them, and their rate of growth
became faster still. At the end of this first stage, the solar system was made up of hydrogen
and helium gas and millions of planetesimals, objects the size of small moons, having
gravitational fields just strong enough to affect their neighbors.
Second phase of the accretion process- gravitational forces between the planetesimals
caused them to collide and merge, forming larger and larger objects. Because larger objects
have stronger gravity, the rich became richer in the early solar system, and eventually almost
all the planestesimal material was swept up into a few large protoplanets, the accumulations
of matter that would eventually evolve into the planets we know today.
3. Fragmentation- as the protoplanets grew, another process became important. The strong
gravitational fields produced many high-speed collisions between planetesimals and
protoplanets. These collisions led to fragmentation, as small objects broke into still smaller
chunks, which were then swept up by the protoplanets.

Lesson 1.3 Earth and the Earth Systems

Earth as the only Habitable Planet

Two major requirements for a planet to be considered habitable:
1. The star should survive long enough for its planets to develop life.
2. The planet should exist in a region where water could remain liquid.
- Goldilocks zone- indicates that the distance of Earth from the sun is just right that the amount
of energy received is just enough to make the temperature of Earth neither too hot nor too
cold.
Solar System Explorations
March 18, 2011- NASAs MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and
Ranging) spacecraft has the mission to take high-resolution photographs and to study
Mercurys thin atmosphere and possible presence of water.
July 16, 2011- NASAs Dawn Spacecraft enters the orbit around asteroid Vesta, one of the
largest asteroids in the solar system. The spacecraft was launched in 2007 with the mission to
study and photograph the rocky surface of the asteroid.

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 August 6, 2012- NASAs Curiosity rover is the largest and most advanced rover to land on Mars.
Its mission is to investigate the climate and geology of the planet and also to look for signs of
life.
August 25, 2012- First Humanmade spacecraft in interstellar space: NASAs Voyager 1 sent a
data indicating that it has passed the extreme outer edge of the Suns influence known as the
heliopause and is headed towards parts that are unknown.
August 6, 2014- First Spacecraft to orbit a comet
In the Resolution B5 released by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), planets, dwarf
planets and small solar system bodies are defined as follows:
A planet is a celestial body that:
- Is in orbit around the sun.
- Has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a
nearly round shape.
- Has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.
A dwarf planet is a celestial body that:
- Is in orbit around the sun.
- Has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a
nearly round shape.
- Has NOT cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.
- Is not a satellite
Small Solar System Bodies are all other objects except satellites orbiting around the Sun. These
currently include asteroids, most trans-Neptunian object (TNOs)- objects orbiting beyond
Neptune, comets, and other small s=celestial bodies.
Asteroids- generally considered to be made up of metals and rocky material. It is formed
much closer to the sun, where it was too warm for ices to remain solid.
Comets- are made up of ice, dust and rocky material. It is formed farther from the sun where
ices would not melt. Comets, which approach the sun, lose material with each orbit because
some of their ice melts and vaporizes to form a tail.
But some objects blur the distinction between asteroids and comets which means they are
somewhat the same (Earthsky, 2017).
Meteor- The visible path of a meteoroid that enters Earth's (or another body's) atmosphere.
Many meteors appearing seconds or minutes apart are called a meteor shower.
Meteroid- is a sand- to boulder-sized particle of debris in the Solar System.
Meteorite- a meteoroid reaches the ground and survives impact.
Earth Spheres
- Earth is divided into different spheres: Hydrosphere, the water portion of the Earth; the
Atmosphere, the gaseous envelope of the Earth; the Geosphere, the solid component of the
Earth and the Biosphere, the living component of Earth.
- These spheres interact with one another that enable the Earth to sustain life. The interaction is
what makes Earth as a system where one sphere cannot act independently from the other.

1. Hydrosphere
- Earth is sometimes called the blue planet or the blue marble because of its water
component.
- Water is what makes Earth unique since it can appear in any of its three phases.
- The hydrosphere makes up 71% of Earths surface and most of it is saltwater found in the
oceans. It also includes the fresh water found in glaciers, rivers, streams, lakes and
underground.
- It is the fresh water part of the hydrosphere that is important to living things. Groundwater is the
largest reservoir of fresh water available to humans.
Oceans- 97% Fresh- 3%
Frozen- 77% Lakes, Rivers and Streams- 1%
Groundwater-22%

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 - Hydrosphere is a dynamic mass of water that interacts with each of Earths spheres through
the water cycle.

Precipitation

Atmosphere
Geosphere

Evaporation

Water moves from

the hydrosphere

- The interaction of the geosphere and the hydrosphere is responsible for sculpturing Earths
surface that produces its magnificent landforms.

2. Atmosphere
- The atmosphere is the thin life-giving gaseous envelope of the Earth. It serves as a blanket.
- Its composition is divided into two: the major components and the variable components.
Major components: the gaseous compounds Nitrogen and Oxygen along with the
trace gases. These provide the air that people breathe and it can also trap the
outgoing infrared radiation to keep Earth warm.
Nitrogen- 78% Argon- 0.9%
Oxygen- 21% Trace Gases- 0.1% (methane, helium, nitrous oxide, ozone, neon,
CO2)
Variable components: water vapor and aerosols, responsible for the weather and
climate that is experienced on Earth through the interaction of the atmosphere to the
hydrosphere and geosphere.
- Water vapor is needed for cloud formation and for trapping the heat on Earth.
- Aerosols serve as condensation nuclei for the water vapor and it can absorb, reflect
and scatter incoming solar radiation.
- Ozone which is another variable component that protects the Earth from the harmful
ultraviolet radiation of the sun.
- The atmosphere is divided into different layers: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and
thermosphere.
Troposphere- lowest layer of the atmosphere where temperature decreases with
altitude. It is about 11 km thick and all weather phenomena occur in this layer.
o Tropopause- boundary between troposphere and stratosphere.
Stratosphere- about 11 km- 48 km from Earths surface.
- in this layer, temperature increases with altitude due to the presence of the
ozone layer.
o Stratopause- boundary between the stratosphere and mesosphere.
Mesosphere- temperature decreases with altitude and it reaches about -90C which is
the coldest temperatures in the atmosphere. It is also in this layer that meteors burn up.
o Mesopause- boundary between mesosphere and thermosphere.
Thermosphere- starts at about 55 km and has no definite upper-limit. It has the least
amount of atmospheric molecules but these receive most of the high-energy radiation
that leads to the increase in temperature as altitude increases.

3. Geosphere
- It has a depth of 6,400 km, making it the largest sphere of the Earth. It is divided into different
layers: crust; mantle; outer core and inner core.
Crust- outermost layer of the Earth. There are two types: the continental crust and
oceanic crust.
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 Mantle- marked by Mohorovicic discontinuity, a distinct difference between the denser
mantle and the crust. This also marks the base of the crust or the top of the mantle.
- comprise 82% of Earths volumes and is divided into upper mantle and lower mantle.
o Lithosphere- 100 km tick of the upper mantle and is made of solid rocks together
with the crust.
o Asthenosphere- weaker region about 700 km thick semi-solid. Below is the lower
mantle that is hot semi-solid rock that is 2, 100 km thick.
Core- marked by Gutenberg discontinuity. It is made up of iron-nickel alloy making it
very dense and it is divided into the outer core and inner core. These two are
separated by the Bullen discontinuity, the hottest part of the core.
o Outer core- 2, 260 km thick, liquid iron- nickel composition, very low viscosity
allowing convection to happen
o Inner core- 1, 216 km thick, solid, contains more iron than nickel

4. Biosphere
- Biological component of the Earth.
- Includes all of the microbes, plants and animals that can be found from about a kilometer
above the sea level down to the deepest parts of the oceans. It extends to any place that life
of any kind might exist. Under the biosphere is the anthroposphere or the human sphere.

UNIT 2 EARTH MATERIALS AND PROCESSES

Lesson 2.1 Minerals and Rock

Rock- forming Minerals
- Minerals are the building blocks of rocks.
- Characteristics in determining that an Earth mineral is a mineral:
1. Naturally occurring- mineral if it has been formed by geologic processes and no human
intervention has taken pace.
2. Inorganic- does not contain any organic compounds and has been formed by inorganic
processes. Except for calcite and other shell-forming materials but they are still considered
to be a mineral if it has already become part of the rock.
3. Solid
4. Crystalline structure
5. Can be represented by a chemical formula- e.g. Quartz (SiO2)
- These characteristics of a mineral are used to differentiate a mineral from a regular rock.
- Properties of minerals:
1. Optical Properties:
a. Luster- the quality of light that is being reflected by the surface of a mineral.
- metallic luster (minerals that looks like metals and are shiny)
- submetallic luster (minerals that develops a dull coating and are not as shiny)
- nonmetallic luster (minerals that are described as glassy, earthy, pearly or
greasy)
b. Ability to transmit light- it determines whether it is opaque, translucent of transparent.
c. Color- easiest to identify but unreliable property since slight impurities can change the
color.
d. Streak- color of the mineral in its powdered form. It is often used since it is very consistent
unlike the color.
2. Crystal Shape
- describes the crystal structure of a mineral as a perfect geometric shape,
equidimensional, bladed, fibrous, tabular, prismatic,platy, blocky or botryoidal.
3. Mineral Strength
- determines how easy the mineral break or deform when exposed to stress.

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 a. Tenacity- refers to the minerals resistance to breaking or deforming. E.g. brittle,
malleable, sectile, elastic
b. Hardness- measure of the minerals resistance to abrasion or scratching.
Mohs Scale of Hardness
10 Diamond
9 Corundum
8 Topaz
7 Quartz
6 Orthoclase
5 Apatite
4 Fluorite
3 Calcite
2 Gypsum
1 Talc

c. Cleavage- exhibited when mineral

breaks and smooth flat surfaces are formed
from the breakage.

d. Fracture- exhibited if the mineral does

not have a cleavage plane.

4. Specific Gravity- measurement done by

mineralogists to describe the density of the
mineral.

Lesson 2.2 Rock Cycle

- A rock is any solid that is naturally found on

Earth. It may consist of minerals, other pre-
existing rocks, mineral-like matter or organic
debris.

Lesson 2.3 Exogenic and Endogenic

Processes

A. From Mountain Ranges to Sediments

Weathering- the process of

disintegration (physical) and
decomposition (chemical) of rocks.

Regolith- loose fragments of rocks and

minerals that cover the surface of Earth- end
result of continuous weathering.

a. Mechanical weathering or Physical weathering- breaking down of rocks without changing its
chemical composition.

Agents to the process of weathering:

1. Frost wedging- use of water; precipitate that came from the dissolved materials in the
groundwater.
2. Fire
- Sheeting- formation of rocks which is onion like layers.
3. Plants and burrowing animals

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b. Chemical weathering- chemical reactions can lead to the decomposition of the rocks, wherein it
changes the chemical composition of the rocks.

e.g. carbonic acid where rainwater is combined with atmospheric carbon dioxide.

c. Mass Wasting

- is sometimes called mass movement or

slope movement, is defined as the large
movement of rock, soil and debris
downward due to the force of gravity. In
other words, the earth's outer crust is being
'wasted' away on a 'massive' scale and
falling to lower elevations.

E.g. volcanic eruptions, heavy rainfall,

human activity.

a. Erosion- smaller fragments of rocks or

sediments which resulted from weathering
are transported with the help of wind,
water and ice.

b. Deposition- is the geological process in

which sediments, soil and rocks are added
to a landform or land mass. Wind, ice and
water, as well as sediment flowing via
gravity, transport previously eroded
sediment, which at the loss of enough
kinetic energy in the fluid, is deposited,
building up layers of sediment.

c. Lithification- (from the ancient Greek word lithos meaning rock) is the process in which seiments
compact under pressure, expel connate fluids, and gradually become solid rock. Essentially, it is the
process of porosity destruction through compaction and cementation.

d. Recrystallization- occurs when mineral grains interlocked themselves in the existing rocks and
started growing there. E.g. limestone that is from coral reefs

Reference/s:
Sia, S.R. et al.2016.Earth and life science.927 Quezon Ave., Quezon City.Sibs Publishing House, Inc.
URL Retrieved from: http://lifeng.lamost.org/courses/astrotoday/CHAISSON/AT315/HTML/AT31502.HTM
https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/25645 (2013)
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/docs/Comet_factsheet_4-25-12_b.pdf

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