Difference between inner and outer planets

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planets

Our solar system consists of many planets, one of which is Earth. The total

number of planets is eight although there have been disagreements to this
statement with some saying there are more than eight (the opponents of the
theory that Pluto is not a planet). Whatever the case, when we talk about
planets we divide them into two groups; inner planets and outer planets.
This classification is relative to the planets’ position with respect to the Sun.
The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus
and Neptune. We shall now make clear which of these are inner planets and
which are outer planets and what actually differentiates them.

Inner planets are those planets which are closest to the sun and include the
first four planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) in order of increasing
distance from the Sun. Mercury is the closest, followed by Venus, Earth and
then Mars. Outer planets are those which are further away from the Sun
and include the next four planets in order of increasing distance from the
Sun (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune), with Neptune being the
furthest.
The inner planets are made up of rock and metal and are therefore solid.
These planets move slowly as they are considered to be heavy. They have an
average diameter of about 13000 km as they are small planets. On the other
hand, the outer planets are said to be made of gases and they are not really
solid. The gases which make them up are Hydrogen and Helium; huge
balloons floating in the space are considered as giant gas planets by people
and they have an average diameter of about 48000 km.

Furthermore, the inner planets are warmer than outer planets simply due
to the fact that they are closer to the Sun. Outer planets are composed of
lighter elements such as gases and inner planets are composed of heavy
elements such as iron. Inner planets have fewer moons, small, silicate
surface, nickel-iron core, higher density and rotate more slowly compared
to outer planets. Outer planets have a greater number of moons, no solid
part; rotate faster, have a lower density as well as rings in some cases
(Jupiter and Saturn). Outer planets are significantly bigger than the inner
planets as Jupiter is measured to be 88846 miles in diameter and Mercury
is measured to be 3031 miles in diameter.

There is significant difference between the rotation and the orbit of the two
types of planets. For example, for Jupiter it would take 9 hours and 55
minutes for a day to complete (or to complete one rotation) and on Venus it
would take 234 hours for a day to complete. (The time period of a day is
that compared to the standard 24 hour day on Earth.) The inner planets
take lesser time to orbit the Sun whereas the planets which are far away
need more time as they have to cover more ground. For example, Jupiter
takes 164 Earth years to complete one orbit!

Summary
1.
1. Inner planets are those which are closer to the Sun
(Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) and outer
planets are those which are further from the Sun
(Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune)
 
1.
1. Inner planets have an average diameter of about
13000 km, they move slowly as they are heavier-
being made up of metals and rock; outer planets
have an average diameter of about 48000 km and
are made of hydrogen and helium gases, therefore
they move faster due to lesser weight

 
1.
1. Inner planets are warmer due to lesser distance
from the Sun

 
1.
1. Inner planets have fewer moons, small, silicate
surface, nickel-iron core, higher density and rotate
slowly compared to Outer planets which have
greater number of moons, faster rotation, no solid
part, lower density and rings (in the case of Jupiter
and Saturn)

 
1.
1. Outer planets are significantly bigger than the
inner planets; Jupiter is measured to be 88846
miles in diameter and Mercury is measured to be
3031 miles in diameter

 
1.
1. Outer planets spin faster than inner planets which
spin slowly

 
1. For the inner planets it takes lesser time to complete an orbit
around the Sun whereas outer planets take greater time due to
their greater distance from the Sun