Why Does No Major Planet Orbit the Sun at the Location

question 63

Multiple Choice

Why does no major planet orbit the Sun at the location of the asteroid belt?

• A) One such object did form there but was destroyed by a collision with an early comet; the asteroid belt is the debris from the collision.
• B) Jupiter's gravitational pull stirred up the planetesimals, preventing them from coalescing into a single large object.
• C) In the early solar nebula, the temperature that close to the Sun was too high for rock or iron to condense into solid form.
• D) Three Earth-sized planets did form there, but they destroyed each other by mutual collisions; the asteroid belt is the debris from these collisions.

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Definitions:

Catabolism

The metabolic process that breaks down molecules in living organisms, releasing energy.

Cata-

A prefix in medical and general terminology meaning "down," "against," "back," or "deconstructive."

Self

Refers to the individual's sense of their own identity or personal being.

Sign

An objective evidence of disease perceivable by an examining physician, as opposed to a symptom, which is subjectively perceived by the patient.