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The Composition of Saturn and Earth
It is not easy to determine the exact composition of each planet in our solar system. Saturn and Earth are the two most famous planets. Although they share many of the same elements but have different distributions of those elements, Saturn is the most prominent. Saturn is primarily composed of hydrogen gas and helium, while Earth is primarily composed of silicate rocks, metals, and other elements (Haqq Misra 2020). Saturn, at 58,232km in radius, is the second-largest planet in our solar system (NASA 2020). It is composed of 5.9% hydrogen by weight and 94.1% of hydrogen. There are traces of ammonia, methane, and some other chemicals. The outermost layers of Saturn’s atmosphere contain large concentrations of hydrogen and helium, which is the result of gravity compressing the gas together (Haqq-Misra, 2020). Earth, at 6,371 kilometers in radius, is the third-largest planet in our solar system (NASA 2020). The composition of Earth’s surface is dominated by rocks, with the core being composed primarily of iron and nickel. A variety of minerals make up the crust, such as iron, magnesium and silicon. Cont…
