Venus density and escape velocity

From two simple numbers

• radius ~ 0.95 _Earth
• mass ~ 0.82 M_Earth

we can learn a lot. We can calculate its density relative to Earth and the escape velocity from its surface. Recall that

This gives

• density ~ 0.96 density_Earth
• (escape velocity)² ~ 0.86 (escape velocity)²_Earth

The density is similar to Earth's, so we expect the internal composition to be similar. The escape velocity is similar to Earth's, so we expect Venus to have a substantial atmosphere.

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