>
Home · IGCSE 0625 · Space physics · The Solar System · Practice
Core · Practice questions · The Solar System

Know the family.

Six original Cambridge-style questions on the Solar System: the planets, their types, moons, asteroids, comets, and orbital speeds.

Original questions All questions on this page are original work, written in the Cambridge IGCSE style. They are not from past papers. They test the same concepts and skills the syllabus rewards.
What the examiner wants

Order, types, and speeds.

01
Recall
[2 marks]

Name the eight planets of the Solar System in order from the Sun.

  • Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars. ✓
  • Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. ✓
02
Recall
[2 marks]

State which planets are rocky and which are gas giants.

  • The four inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) are rocky. ✓
  • The four outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) are gas giants. ✓
03
Recall
[2 marks]

State where the asteroid belt is found, and describe the shape of a comet's orbit.

  • The asteroid belt is between Mars and Jupiter. ✓
  • A comet has a very elliptical (stretched) orbit. ✓
04
Analysis
[2 marks]

Explain why Neptune takes much longer to orbit the Sun than the Earth does.

  • Neptune is much further from the Sun, where the Sun's gravity is weaker. ✓
  • It orbits more slowly and has a much longer path, so its year is far longer. ✓
05
Recall
[1 mark]

State the difference between a planet and a moon.

  • A planet orbits the Sun, while a moon orbits a planet. ✓
06
Application
[2 marks]

The planets do not all orbit the Sun at the same speed. State which orbit fastest and explain why.

  • The planets closest to the Sun orbit fastest. ✓
  • The Sun's gravitational pull is stronger closer in, so they move faster. ✓

Mark this once you have attempted all six and checked your working. It records a Practiced badge on the topic and adds a one-time bonus. Revealing the solutions alone does not count.