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Use the table to answer the question.

Planet Estimated Mass of Planet (1024 kg)
Venus 4.87
Mars 0.642
Jupiter 1,898.0
Neptune 102.0
A spacecraft flies within 500,000 km of each of these planets. Based on its mass, which planet would gravitationally attract the spacecraft the least?

(1 point)
Responses

Jupiter
Jupiter

Mars
Mars

Venus
Venus

Neptune

1 answer

To determine which planet would gravitationally attract the spacecraft the least, we can look at the estimated mass of the planets. The gravitational attraction of a planet is directly related to its mass; the larger the mass, the stronger the gravitational force.

From the provided data:

  • Venus: 4.87 x 10²⁴ kg
  • Mars: 0.642 x 10²⁴ kg
  • Jupiter: 1,898.0 x 10²⁴ kg
  • Neptune: 102.0 x 10²⁴ kg

Among these, Mars has the lowest estimated mass (0.642 x 10²⁴ kg). Therefore, Mars would gravitationally attract the spacecraft the least.

So the correct response is:

Mars