7.4 Key Terms

Gases: a class of material available to build the giant planets that consists primarily of hydrogen and helium, the most abundant elements in the universe. 7.1

Ices: a class of material available to build the giant planets which consist of compounds that form from the next most abundant elements: oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen. 7.1

Jovian planets: the four giant planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. 7.2

Reducing (chemistry): the chemistry present in the outer solar system where other elements tend to combine with hydrogen first. 7.1

Rocks: a class of material available to build the giant planets that consist of even less abundant elements than those of ices, and include everything else: magnesium, silicon, iron, and so on. 7.1

Magnetospheres: regions around the planet within which the planet’s own magnetic field dominates over the general interplanetary magnetic field. 7.2