Which issue concerning the solar system's distribution of momentum did the Chamberlin-Moulton model successfully address that troubled the classical Nebular Hypothesis?
Answer
The angular momentum paradox concerning the Sun retaining most momentum
The classical Nebular Hypothesis, where the system formed through the simple contraction and spinning down of a vast cloud, struggled profoundly to explain why the Sun, the central mass, holds only about 1% to 2% of the system's total angular momentum, while the planets hold the vast majority. The Chamberlin-Moulton approach bypassed this difficulty entirely. By proposing that the planetary material was ejected externally *after* the Sun had already achieved its high rotational momentum, the model logically separated the Sun's history from the planets' accumulation history, thus avoiding the paradox inherent in simple contraction models.
Related Questions
What is the formal name often used for what is commonly called the planetesimal theory?Which two key figures are attributed with the development of the detailed mechanism known as the Chamberlin-Moulton Planetesimal Hypothesis?What critical external event did the Chamberlin-Moulton formulation hypothesize as the catalyst to source the initial material for planet formation?In the Chamberlin-Moulton view, what fundamental force provided the initial impetus for ejecting material from the Sun to form planetary precursors?What process is defined as the mechanism of building up larger bodies from the fundamental building blocks called planetesimals?What characteristic was crucial for collisions between orbiting planetesimals to facilitate growth rather than destruction?Which issue concerning the solar system's distribution of momentum did the Chamberlin-Moulton model successfully address that troubled the classical Nebular Hypothesis?What compositional difference exists between planetesimals forming close to the Sun versus those forming beyond the 'frost line'?In the provided stages of growth, what dominant process characterized Stage 4, involving objects ranging from Moon-sized to Planet-sized?What is the current scientific consensus regarding the source of initial planetesimal material compared to the original Chamberlin-Moulton trigger event?