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32 votes
32 votes
Which statement is true about historical models of the solar system?

1.) The heliocentric model was the first model of the solar system.


2.)Astronomers developed questions from observations that the geocentric model could not answer.


3.)In the heliocentric model every astronomical body travels in perfect circles.


4.)Old explanations about the natural world are always wrong.

User Delcypher
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2.7k points

2 Answers

19 votes
19 votes

Final answer:

The true statement about historical models of the solar system is that astronomers created new questions from observations that the geocentric model could not explain, leading to the development of the heliocentric model which eventually replaced the outdated geocentric view. So the correct option is 2.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement from the student's question that is true about historical models of the solar system is the second one: Astronomers developed questions from observations that the geocentric model could not answer. The initial geocentric model, known as the Ptolemaic view, placed Earth at the center of the universe with celestial bodies moving in complex circular orbits around it. However, as observations improved, this model required the addition of more and more circles to account for the observed movements of the planets, becoming increasingly unwieldy and less able to represent reality accurately. The heliocentric model, with the Sun at the center, proposed by Copernicus, eventually replaced the geocentric model because it better fit the accumulating evidence and could be explained by a small number of physical laws, such as Newton's universal law of gravitation.

User Jpnavarini
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3.3k points
22 votes
22 votes
The right answer is 2
User Netpoetica
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2.9k points