Paper Example - Earth and Other Planets Similarity and Differences

The solar system encompasses celestial objects such as stars, planets, moons, asteroids, and comets. The sun is a big star made out of hydrogen and helium gases. The first four planets away from the sun are called the rocky planets, including Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The planets are an amazing example of how researchers gradually amass new data and derive new meanings and conclusions. With every novel investigation into space, a lot of information is learned about the planets. Mercury is the nearest planet to the sun. It takes 88 days to orbit the sun. One year in Earth is the equivalent of four years in Mercury, while 176 Earth days is the same as 1 Mercury day (Savart, 2017). Venus is the second planet away from the sun and almost similar in size to the Earth with a rough diameter of 7, 300 miles (Savart, 2017). Normally it is referred to as the morning star, evening star, or Earth sister, but it is different from the Earth since it spins backward. Earth is the third planet away from the sun, has liquid water on its surface, has active planet movement, and supports life around 7, 300 miles in diameter (Savart, 2017). Mars is the fourth planet away from the sun. It takes 24.6 hours to spin, which is similar to the Earth's speed and is often called the red planet (Savart, 2017).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

The four outer planets are also denoted as the gas planets, and they include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Jupiter is the fifth planet away from the sun the largest in the solar system and is more than 11 times bigger than the Earth (Savart, 2017). Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the sixth, seventh, and eighth planets, respectively. Saturn is the second biggest planet and has a ring made of pieces of ice and rocks. Uranus is the third biggest planet (Savart, 2017). It takes Uranus 84 years to orbit the sun and has over 20 moons, and the biggest is Triton (Alfven, 2012). Its atmosphere appears blue and green since its atmosphere is made out of methane and is enclosed by a system of nine rings. Neptune has a diameter of 49, 500 km, and it takes 165 years to revolve the sun (Savart, 2017). A system of five rings surrounds it. Thus, there are many differences among the planets. In this light, this paper will compare and contrast the Earth to other planets in the solar system.

Similarity

Celestial Body inside the Solar System

The Earth is similar to other planets since they are all celestial bodies inside the solar system, which comprises the sun, and all the objects that travel around it and bound to it by gravity. The solar system's major eight planets are among the objects that gyrate around the sun. Thus, the Earth, in a similar manner to the other seven planets, revolves around the sun. Mercury orbits the sun quickest and only takes 88 days to complete a revolution, Venus takes 225 days, Earth takes 365 days, Mars takes 1.88 years, Jupiter 11.86 years, Saturn takes 29.46 years, Uranus takes 84.01 years, Neptune takes 164 years, and Pluto takes 248.59 years to revolve around the sun (Table 1; Liu et al., 2012)). Besides, the Earth, like other planets, rotates on its axis. It takes the Earth 0.99 days to complete a rotation, while other planets take different times. Mercury uses 58.6 days, Venus takes 243 days, Mars takes 1.03 days, Jupiter 0.41 days, Saturn takes 0.45 days, and Uranus takes 0.72 days, while Neptune takes 0.67 days to rotate on their axis.

Earth is a Planet

Another similarity is that Earth and other planets are all planets. According to Alvfen (2012); a planet revolves around the sun; has enough mass for its self-gravity to overwhelm rigid forces of the body adopting an almost spherical shape; and clears the neighborhood throughout its path. Thus, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune all orbit around the sun, they are big enough to have a gravitational force to turn them into a sphere, and they are massive enough that their gravities clear away any other objects of the same size near their orbits around the sun.

Moons

The planets also have natural satellites that rotate around them, which are called the moon. The moons are relatively smaller than their planets in terms of size. The Earth has one moon, which appears to be bigger than all the rest celestial bodies in the solar system since it is very close to the earth. The moon moves around the Earth in approximately 27 days and 8 hours (Rothery, 2015). All the other planets, excluding Mercury and Venus, has moons. The Earth has one, Mars has two, Jupiter has 62, Saturn 33, Uranus has 27, and Neptune has 13 (Rothery, 2015). The outer planets are thought to have many more moons. The biggest moon is Jupiter’s Ganymede with a breadth of 3,280 miles, which is larger than Planet Mercury (Rothery, 2015). Also, Saturn's Titan is the second-largest moon with a diameter of 3,200 miles in the solar system. The Earth's moon is among the biggest natural satellites with a diameter of 2,160 miles (Rothery, 2015). Mar’s Deimos is the smallest moon in the solar system (Rothery, 2015).

Differences

Earth has water

First, Earth varies from other planets since it has liquid water on its surface in a volume that supports life. It is amazing for its accurately regulated quantity of water, not more or less to cover the mountains or turn the land into a desert, as in the case of Venus and Mars (Karato, 2015). Its waters are unique since it has stayed liquid for a long period. Indeed, the Earth has maintained its oceans, while other planets fry or freeze, for example, Neptune is made of ice. The Earth's position in the solar system allows the not to receive so much energy from the sun to dry and is not far away from the sun to quickly freeze (Karato, 2015).

Plate Tectonics

The Earth has a system of plate tectonics that other planets lack. According to Karato (2015), the Earth's crust slip-sliding movements are believed to have developed its plummeting ocean depths and the towering mountain ranges. The existence of plate tectonics permits the carbon-silicate cycle to function over geological periods regulating the amount of carbon in its atmosphere, keeping the superficial temperature nearly that of the liquid water (Karato, 2015). Thus, water and plate tectonics are inextricably associated. Plate tectonics facilitate the existence of liquid water by regulating temperature. Still, water enables plate tectonics movements to occur by lubricating them, leading to major variations between sea floors and continents (Karato, 2015). Other planets such as Venus have no plate tectonics, no water, no continents, and no deep seafloor.

Living Things

Another difference between the Earth and other planets in that it has many living things. With approximately 1,260,000, 000,000,000,000,000 liters of water, plate tectonics and the help of the moon in stabilizing the Earth’s rotation and preventing radical movements that could lead to huge variations in climate, which could ruin any chance of life evolving or forming (Karato, 2015). Also, its atmosphere shelters it from the harmful sun rays. Further, it is the only planet known to have lived in a universe where humans can breathe in. It is a terrestrial planet placed in a habitable zone, which is neither too far away nor too close to the sun. Therefore, the Earth has the essential life ingredients, making it special among other planets.

Earth’s Atmosphere

The Earth’s atmosphere is about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and traces of other gases such as carbon dioxide and water (Koberlein, 2016). It is different from other planets atmosphere gaseous mix. For instance, Saturn and Jupiter have high helium and hydrogen. The thin atmosphere of Mars has 96% of carbon dioxide and 3% nitrogen, which is about a similar ration as the thick atmosphere of Venus (Koberlein, 2016).

Four Seasons

Every planet in the solar system has seasons (Slade, 2007). Earth has four seasons, The only similar thing about Earth’s seasons and the rest of planets seasons is their names; winter, spring, summer, and fall. The Earth seasons vary from other planets. For example; on Saturn, one season can last for as long as 7 years; it is impossible to tell when one season starts, and the next one begins on Mercury, on Neptune a season can last for around 40 years, and on Venus, seasons are short (Slade, 2007).

In summary, the Earth is not the same as other planets since it has water, it has tectonic plates, oceans, and a huge moon. These elements support life on the planet facilitating the existence of many living things. Also, Earth has four seasons. In comparison, other planets have little or no water, no living things, and have few seasons.

Conclusion

The Earth is similar to other planets in that they are all inside the solar system. They are also planets and rotate on their axis and revolves around the sun. However, the Earth varies uniquely from other planets. First, it has liquid water on its service. Second, it has tectonic plates, a big moon, have four seasons, and a support life form. Earth is the best planet for humans to live since living things like animals and plants need water. The earth has the most water that is 1,260,000, 000,000,000,000,000 litres. Living things also need oxygen, and Earth has high levels of oxygen.

References

Alfvén, H., & Arrhenius, G. (2012). Structure and evolutionary history of the solar system (Vol. 5). Springer Science & Business Media.

Karato, S. (2015). Water in the evolution of the Earth and other terrestrial planets. Treatise on Geophysics, 105-144. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-444-53802-4.00156-1Koberlein, B. (2016, August 15). Why is Earth's atmosphere so different from other planets? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/briankoberlein/2016/08/15/why-is-earths-atmosphere-so-different-from-other-planets/#363d35027022

Liu, C., Kong, M., Guo, C., Gao, W., & Li, B. (2012). Theoretical design of shadowing masks for uniform coatings on spherical substrates in planetary rotation systems. Optics Express, 20(21), 23790-23797. https://www.osapublishing.org/viewmedia.cfm?uri=oe-20-21-23790&seq=0

Rothery, D. A. (2015). 4. The moons of giant planets. Moons: A Very Short Introduction, 60-84. https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780198735274.003.0004

Savart. (2017). Comparison of the planets of our solar system — Steemit. Steemit. https://steemit.com/univers/@savart/comparison-of-the-planets-of-our-solar-systemSlade, S. (2007). The Four Seasons. The Rosen Publishing Group.