Long before the planets, there was only a vast, cold cloud of gas and dust. Gravity did the rest, pulling it inward until a star ignited at the heart and the leftovers clumped, grain by grain, into worlds.
The Solar System formed from a cloud of gas and dust that collapsed under gravity. Most of the mass gathered into the Sun at the centre, while the remaining material in a spinning disc clumped together by accretion to build the planets.
The Solar System formed from a cloud of gas and dust that collapsed under gravity. Most of the mass formed the Sun; the rest clumped together by accretion to form the planets.
The leftover material formed a spinning disc around the young Sun.
Let gravity pull the cloud together and watch the Sun and planets take shape.
Four quick checks. Each correct answer earns XP and lights this skill on your star map.
The Solar System formed from a cloud of...
The cloud collapsed because of...
Most of the mass of the cloud formed the...
The planets grew by a process called...
Gravity makes the Sun from most of the mass, and accretion builds the planets from the rest.
It was gravity that pulled the cloud of gas and dust together, and the planets grew by accretion, smaller clumps sticking together into larger bodies, in the disc around the young Sun.
Unlocks once the four checks above are done. Worth more XP, written in the style of Paper 2.
What force caused the cloud of gas and dust to collapse?
During the formation of the Solar System, the planets formed by...
Most of the mass of the original cloud ended up in the...
The formation of the Solar System is mapped. Keep the chain going.