Based on Mercury's peak temperature of about 700 K, what would the average molecular speed of carbon dioxide be? How does this compare to Mercury's escape velocity? If Mercury's atmosphere initially had substantial carbon dioxide, in line with what

is believed about the early atmospheres of the other terrestrial planets, do you think Mercury would have retained this atmosphere? Why/why not? Would your answer change if you considered only Mercury's coldest regions that are around 125 K?


Carbon dioxide's average speed would be about 0.63 km/s, less than 6 times Mercury's escape speed, so Mercury could have retained an atmosphere like this, ignoring other effects. Since the molecular speed would be much lower at 125 K, the conclusion that Mercury could have retained carbon dioxide would still hold.

Physics & Space Science

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One mole of an ideal gas at 1.00 atm and 0.00°C occupies 22.4 L. How many molecules of an ideal gas are in one cubic centimeters under these conditions?

a. 6.72E+24 b. 2.24E+4 c. 2.69E+0 d. 6.02E+23 e. 3.72E+20

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Different colors of light correspond to different light

A) velocities. B) intensities. C) polarities. D) frequencies. E) none of the above

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Which blurs our Earth-based view of celestial objects?

a. the Sun b. the Moon c. Earth's atmosphere

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A string with a mass per length of 2.00 gm/m is stretched with a force of 150 N between two points that are 0.500 m apart. The fundamental frequency of the stretched string is in tune with the fundamental frequency of an organ pipe filled with air and open at both ends. The velocity of sound in air at 0is 331 m/s. What is the length of the organ pipe?

A. 50.2 cm B. 55.2 cm C. 57.5 cm D. 60.4 cm E. 65.3 cm

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