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The most influential factor in the makeup of the planets is the influence of the sun. The inner solar system is hotter than the outer solar system, being closer to the heat of the sun. So lighter elements, hydrogen and helium, and volatile gases, such as water, methane, etc., tend to get driven off; they heat up and boil away. The inner system consists of the first four planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Of course, there is lots of water on Earth, but it is not left over from the original formation of the planet, it is the result of later cometary impacts. Comets are described as large, dirty snowballs, and they are very far out in space, even beyond the gas giant planets, but their orbits sometimes bring them into the inner system, and although this does cause the ices to start boiling away, they are very large and so it takes time for them to boil away.

So in the inner system we have basically rocky planets made of the heavier elements, and made of compounds that are solid rather than gaseous and volatile. However, in the case of Earth and Venus, atmospheres and volatile compounds were added to the basic rocky/metallic planet.

The outer system consists of four gas giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These are much more massive than the inner planets and consist mostly of lighter elements and volatile compounds such as methane and ammonia. Bear in mind that the light elements were the most abundant in the original cloud of interstellar gas out of which the entire solar system formed, so for the planets that are cold enough to retain those elements, they could get a lot larger than the hotter, rocky planets.

And since you specifically ask about the gravity, large amounts of mass produce stronger gravitational fields, as explained by Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation. That's why the gravity of the planet Jupiter is much greater than that of the Earth.

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Q: Types of elements that make up the planets and why large or small gravity and why?
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Related questions

What planets have large gravity?

Planets with a large amount of mass.


Which has more gavity small planets or large planets?

Large planets have more gravity than smaller ones


Why planets do not move away through their orbit?

GRAVITY... gravity means that objects are "attracted" to other objects, and the larger the object, the more GRAVITY will "attract" the object. The sun's gravity is too large for the planets to overcome.


Do you only have gravity on earth?

No. All planets, moons, and stars have gravity. Techincally, anything with mass has gravity, but it is only noticeable with very large objects.


The reason the jovian planets lost very little of their original atmosphere is due to their?

Large Gravity = large Mass


Why don't any other planets have any air and gravity?

All planets have gravity- Some more than Earth, some less. Other planets that are large enough do have air- but not made up of the same gasses as Earth.


What is the force that hold the planets in orbit around the sun?

It is gravity that holds the planets in their orbits around the sun. Gravity is what gives "shape" to the solar system, to galaxies, and is the large-scale organizer of the universe as a whole.


Is mass gravity of all planets?

The more gravity something has, the more gravity it has. A planet, like Jupiter, can have 30-something moons because of it's large mass. And the solar system exists only because the sun has so much mass it generates gravity for all the planets.


How would plants develop zero gravity environment?

There isn't a zero gravity environment, but if there was, planets wouldn't form. Planets form by very large rock all attracting to each other and gain enough energy that the center pulls the surrounding rock and smooths then into a sphere. So if a zero gravity environment existed. There would be no planets.


How are planets sizes related to their surface gravity?

Usually, large size= large mass. The more mass you have the greater the gravity, but it also depends on how much mass is in a certain amount of space. For example if a large amount of mass spread over a large area the gravity will be less than if all that mass was condensed into a single point.


Why do gas giant planets have more moons orbiting them than terrestrial planets?

They are larger and so they have more gravity.


The sun holds earth and orbits because of?

gravity. the mass of the sun is so large that it is able to pull in all the planets and what not