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Which is the hottest planet in the solar system?
A. Mercury
B. Venus
C. Mars
D. Jupiter
Correct Answer Is Option = Venus
Notes / Explanation
The hottest planet in the solar system is Venus, which is remarkable because it is not the planet closest to the Sun, yet it is hotter than the planet that lies nearest to the Sun. One might naturally expect the planet closest to the Sun to be the hottest, since it receives the most intense sunlight, but in fact the planet next in order from the Sun, which is Venus, is the hottest of all the planets, and the reason for this lies in the nature of its atmosphere. Venus is surrounded by a very thick and dense atmosphere composed largely of a particular gas, and this atmosphere acts like a heavy blanket around the planet, trapping the heat that comes from the Sun and preventing it from escaping back into space. This trapping of heat is an extreme example of the effect by which certain gases in an atmosphere hold in heat, and on Venus this effect is so powerful that the surface of the planet is heated to an extremely high temperature, hotter than the surface of any other planet in the solar system, hot enough to melt certain metals. The planet closest to the Sun, by contrast, has almost no atmosphere to trap heat, so that although its sunlit side becomes very hot, its heat escapes and its temperature varies greatly, and it does not reach the extreme and constant heat of Venus. In addition to being extremely hot, Venus has a hostile environment in other ways, with a crushing atmospheric pressure at its surface and clouds of harmful substances, making it a most inhospitable world despite being similar to the Earth in size. The case of Venus provides a striking illustration of the powerful effect that an atmosphere can have on the temperature of a planet, and it is often mentioned in connection with the study of the way in which certain gases trap heat, which is relevant to the understanding of the climate of the Earth as well. The study of the planets, their conditions and their differences is an important part of the study of the solar system. For PPSC and other competitive examinations, the key points to remember are that the hottest planet in the solar system is Venus, that it is hotter than the planet closest to the Sun even though it is not itself the closest, that this is because its thick, dense atmosphere traps a great deal of heat, and that Venus has an extremely hot and hostile environment despite being similar to the Earth in size.
