What did gravity create when 99% of gas and dust materials are were gather into the center of a flattened disc during the formation of the solar system?
During the formation of the solar system, gravity caused the majority of gas and dust materials to come together and form a rotating disk-like structure known as the protoplanetary disk. This disk consisted of 99% of the gas and dust, with the remaining 1% forming the central core.
To understand how gravity created this flattened disk, we need to dive into the process of solar system formation. It all began with a giant molecular cloud—a massive, cold, and dense region of interstellar gas and dust. Under the influence of gravity, this cloud started to contract, causing an increase in its rotation speed due to the conservation of angular momentum.
As the cloud contracted, it began to flatten into a disk shape. This flattening occurs because the gas and dust particles closer to the center of the cloud experience a stronger gravitational pull, causing them to spiral inward faster. The particles further from the center move at a slower pace. This differential rotation leads to the formation of a disk, with the majority of the material accumulating at the center.
Within this protoplanetary disk, the central core, composed of heavier elements, started to build up. Meanwhile, the lighter elements were distributed more widely throughout the disk. Over time, the central core would become the Sun, while the remaining material in the disk gradually came together to form the planets, moons, asteroids, and other smaller celestial bodies within the solar system.
In summary, gravity acted upon the gas and dust materials in the early solar system, causing them to collapse and form a rotating disk called the protoplanetary disk. This disk retained 99% of the material, while the central core accumulated to eventually become the Sun.