Final answer:
The Nebular Hypothesis is the theory that describes the formation of the outer planets through the clumping of gas and dust in a spinning solar nebula, which eventually formed the solar system.
Step-by-step explanation:
The theory based on models that describe how the clumping of gas and dust was able to form the outer planets is the Nebular Hypothesis. This theory suggests that the solar system formed from a large, rotating cloud of interstellar gas and dust, known as the solar nebula, which collapsed under its own gravity. The process of collapse caused the nebula to spin faster and flatten into a disk, with most of the material being pulled toward the center to form the Sun.
The remaining dust and gas in the outer regions clumped together over time, forming the outer planets through a combination of accretion and gravitational attraction of the solar nebula's material.According to the Nebular Hypothesis, after a few million years of violent impacts and accretion, the initial clutter of dust and gas cleared, leaving the planets, asteroids, and comets that we observe today. This model effectively explains the formation of our solar system as well as the similarities observed in the composition and motion of bodies within it.