Physics and Chemistry of the Terrestrial Planets
MIT OpenCourseWare's introduction to the terrestrial planets covers formation, orbital properties, and interior structure. Lectures and course materials work through plate tectonics, earthquakes and seismic waves, rheology, impact cratering, gravity and magnetic fields, heat flux, thermal structure, mantle convection, and core dynamics. The material treats Earth alongside Mercury, Venus, and Mars as comparative case studies in planetary geophysics, aimed at students wanting a working grasp of how rocky planets are built and how their interiors behave over geologic time. Designed for both majors and non-majors, the course assumes some background in physical science but builds concepts from the ground up. As with other MIT OCW offerings, materials are free to access under a Creative Commons license, with no certificate attached. Suitable as a self-study foundation in geophysics or as supplementary material for a planetary science curriculum.