The Distribution of Mass in the Planetary System and Solar Nebula

A model ‘solar nebula’ is constructed by adding the solar complement of light elements to each planet, using recent models of planetary compositions. Uncertainties in this approach are estimated. The computed surface density varies approximately asr ^-3/2. Mercury, Mars and the asteroid belt are anomalously low in mass, but processes exist which would preferentially remove matter from these regions. Planetary masses and compositions are generally consistent with a monotonic density distribution in the primordial solar nebula.