Chapter 2 Earth – Our Home
The Solar System
▪ The Solar System refers to the Sun and the eight planets that orbit it.
▪ Our Solar System consists of eight planets, including the Earth, which
orbit or travel round the Sun.
▪ The word 'solar' means 'of or from the Sun'.
▪ The planet closest to the Sun takes the shortest time to travel round
the Sun.
▪ Planets farther away from the Sun take a longer time to travel round
the Sun.
▪ The Earth is the third planet from the Sun .
Planets Distance from One orbit Diameter of
Sun planet
Mercury 58 million km 88 Earth days 4,878 km
Venus 108 million km 225 Earth days 12,104 km
Earth 152 million km 365.25 days (1 Earth 12,756 km
year)
Mars 228 million km 1.9 Earth years 6,794 km
Jupiter 778 million km 11.9 Earth years 142,796 km
Saturn 1,427 million km 29.5 Earth years 120,660 km
Uranus 2,870 million km 84 Earth years 51,118 km
Neptune 4,497 million km 165 Earth years 49,528 km
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Revolution of the Earth
▪ The Earth completes an orbit or revolution round the Sun in
365 1/4 days, or one year.
▪ The Earth is also tilted at an angle of 23.5° on its axis, an imaginary
straight line joining the North Pole and South Pole.
▪ The revolution and the tilting of the Earth affect the amount of heat
and sunlight that places on the Earth receive from the Sun. This gives
rise to different seasons such as summer and winter.
▪ As the Earth continues its revolution, the hemisphere which is tilted
away from the Sun receives less heat and sunlight and hence
experiences winter. The hemisphere which is tilted towards the Sun
receives more heat and sunlight and hence experiences summer.
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Rotation of the Earth
▪ The Earth spins from west to east on its axis. This movement is called
the Earth's rotation.
▪ The axis is an imaginary line through the exact centre of the Earth
from the North Pole to the South Pole.
▪ When the Earth rotates, the part facing the Sun receives the Sun's
rays and experiences day.
▪ The part facing away from the Sun experiences night.
▪ The Earth takes 24 hours to complete one rotation.
▪ As the Earth rotates, it gives the impression that the Sun is 'rising' in
the east and 'setting' in the west.
▪ In actual fact, the Sun's position does not change at all. Rather, it is
the Earth's rotation towards the east that makes the Sun appear to
be moving towards the west as the day progress.
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Fragile Earth
Earth may be the only planet in the Solar System on which life can exist. Life is
possible on Earth because:
• the amount of heat and light received from the Sun allows living
things to survive;
• temperatures are neither too hot (such as on Mercury and
Venus) nor too cold (such as on Jupiter and Neptune);
• it has the right amount of oxygen and nitrogen gases to sustain life;
• it has large quantities of fresh water needed to sustain life.
The Fragile Earth
▪ The Earth contains all the necessary resources for living things to live
comfortably, eg water, oxygen and sunlight.
▪ However, due to its increasing population, more of these resources
are needed.
▪ If these resources run out, life may be threatened.
▪ Many human activities damage the environment. For
example, air may become polluted due to smoke emitted from
vehicles and industries.
▪ Water may also become polluted due to the discharge of waste or
chemicals into rivers, lakes and seas.
▪ People need to realise that the Earth is fragile as it is our only home
and it can be damaged.
▪ Therefore, it is important for people to learn to use the Earth's
resources wisely and reduce waste.
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