Whether a planet has an atmosphere or not depends on a number of factors: mass,

Question

Whether a planet has an atmosphere or not depends on a number of factors: mass, temperature, composition of the crust, volcanic activity, and complex evolutionary processes.

Rank the planets according to how well they retain their atmospheres, using the following criteria:

• The planet that still maintains its primary atmosphere, ranks first.
• The planet that lost its primary atmosphere but retains a dense secondary atmosphere, ranks second.
• The planet that lost its primary atmosphere and retains a tenuous secondary atmosphere, ranks third.
• The planet that retained neither its primary nor secondary atmospheres, ranks last.

Explanation / Answer

Jupiter ranks first because escape velocity is huge because of its large size. So the gas particles do not escape.

Venus ranks second because the size or mass of Venus is greater than that of mars, but far less tha Jupiter. So it holds the gases and forms a dense secondary atmosphere

Mars ranks third because its mass is less than Venus but more than mercury.

Mercury ranks last because it neither retained its primary nor secondary atmosphere because of its high surface temperature and due to its small size it has less gravity to keep atmosphere intact.

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