Q 01/05

Where does Venus rank in distance from the Sun?

A) Fourth

B) Third

C) First

D) Second

Answer · why

D) Second

Second. Venus orbits between Mercury and Earth and swings closer to us than any other planet, yet averaged over time it is Mercury that is more often ...

Q 02/05

What makes Venus the hottest planet, even though Mercury orbits closer to the Sun?

A) Constant volcanic eruptions

B) A runaway greenhouse effect

C) Friction from its fast winds

D) Heat leaking from its core

Answer · why

B) A runaway greenhouse effect

A runaway greenhouse effect. Venus's bright clouds bounce away so much sunlight that it absorbs less of the Sun's energy than Earth does, yet its dens...

Q 03/05

Venus's surface, at about 464 °C, is hot enough to melt which of these metals?

A) Iron

B) Lead

C) Gold

D) Silver

Answer · why

B) Lead

Lead. It melts at about 327 °C, well below the heat of Venus's surface, which is hotter than Mercury's even though Mercury orbits much closer to the S...

Q 04/05

The atmospheric pressure at the surface of Venus is roughly how many times Earth's at sea level?

A) 2

B) 9

C) 92

D) 920

Answer · why

C) 92

92. That is the squeeze found about a kilometre down in Earth's oceans, and together with the heat it is why no lander has kept working on Venus for m...

Q 05/05

Venus's atmosphere is made almost entirely of which gas?

A) Carbon dioxide

B) Sulphur dioxide

C) Hydrogen

D) Nitrogen

Answer · why

A) Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide. It makes up about 96% of an atmosphere so heavy that at ground level the gas is squeezed into a dense, corrosive fluid, no longer beha...