Question

Suppose you view the solar system from high above Earth's North Pole. Which of the following statements about planetary orbits will be false?

1) All the planets orbit clockwise around the Sun.
2) The inner planets orbit the Sun clockwise while the outer planets orbit the Sun counterclockwise.
3) All of these are false.
4) The inner planets orbit the Sun counterclockwise while the outer planets orbit the Sun clockwise.

Answer 1

When viewing the solar system from above Earth's North Pole, the false statement is that all planets orbit clockwise around the Sun; the correct statement is that the inner planets orbit the Sun counterclockwise while the outer planets orbit the Sun clockwise.

Step-by-step explanation:

When viewing the solar system from high above Earth's North Pole, the only statement that would be false is option 1) All the planets orbit clockwise around the Sun. The correct statement is actually option 4) The inner planets orbit the Sun counterclockwise while the outer planets orbit the Sun clockwise.

From this perspective, it appears as if the inner planets, Mercury and Venus, are moving counterclockwise around the Sun, while the outer planets, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, appear to move clockwise. This is because the direction of rotation is determined by the planet's initial spin and its orbit around the Sun.

Overall, most planets in our solar system revolve around the Sun counterclockwise when viewed from the north, but there are exceptions like Venus and Uranus whose axes of rotation are tilted or reversed.