Is there a relationship between the number of moons a planet has and its diameter?

Answer 1

They are not directly related, but in general, larger planets have more moons. we can only talk about the planets in THIS solar system; while we know of a couple of thousand other planets in other solar systems, we know nothing at all about their moons. We expect to find moons, once our telescopes get better (or our spacecraft get closer) but at this point, it is mostly guesswork.

From smallest to largest (by mass), the number of known moons is 0, 2, 0, 1, 27, 14, at least 150, 67. If you want to measure diameter instead of mass, swap the 27 and the 14.

You should also be aware that it appears to be an oddity of our solar system that the outer planets are large and the inner planets are small, so what appears to be a slight positive correlation between size and number of moons may actually have more to do with distance from the Sun (in that ranking, the number of known moons is 0, 0, 1, 2, 67, 150+, 27, 14). In the universe as a whole there are plenty of "hot Jupiters", massive planets in very close orbit around their primary star. We have no idea how many (if any) moons any extrasolar planet has.

Answer 2

The relationship between a planet and how many moons it has is the mass of the planet. The larger the mass, the more gravitational pull the planet will have. These I believe are the most current numbers for moons in our solar system: Mercury - 0

Venus - 0

Earth - 1

Mars - 2

Jupiter - 62

Saturn - 61

Uranus - 27

Neptune - 13 Now, technically, Pluto is not considered a "planet" anymore. However, it is considered a "dwarf planet". So, if you would like to include Pluto: Pluto - 1

Answer 3

Generally you would think so.

Jupiter is the largest planet and has the largest moon - Ganymede.

Saturn is the second largest planet and has the second largest moon - Titan.

Third and forth positions go to Jupiter with Callisto and Io.

The Earth has the fifth largest moon and is the fifth largest planet. However, it has a larger moon that Uranus or Neptune which are far larger than the Earth.

For any sort of correlation to work you will need to redefine how the moon got there in the first place. Capture or creation. Earths moon was created whereas the other moons were probably captures.

Even so, Mars is the sixth largest planet and has two moons whereas Venus which is larger doesn't have any moons.

So, no, the isn't a direct correlation between size of the planet and the size of the moons - well not in this solar system but it's pretty close.

Answer 4

Yes, a loose connection, because a more massive planet has a stronger gravitational field (the force is greater at a standard distance) so the larger planet can capture more pieces of debris from space.

If two planets have a similar mass, there's no guarantee that the more massive one will necessarily have more moons.

Answer 5

Bigger planets tend to have more moons, since they have a stronger gravitational pull. Jupiter, the biggest planet in our solar system, is the planet with the most moons because it has the gravitational pull to capture them. (Just because a planet is bigger than another planet does not however guarantee that it will have more moons. Mars has two moons while Earth only has one, even though Earth is bigger.)

Answer 6

yes it does cause i got that in my essay

Answer 7

No, there is not.