Which planet in the Solar System is the hottest? Which is the smallest?
Well, give yourself a pat in the back, because YOU ARE RIGHT ! Mercury’s surface temperature is between 90 and 700 K, with an average of 440 K (the fact it does not have an atmosphere explains the huge difference). Venus’ surface temperature ranges from 228 to 773 K, with an average of 737 K (this time, tha atmosphere provides a super efficient green house effect). (Of course, a lot can be argued about how hot it gets in the center of a planet, and what is the definition of surface for gas giants like Jupiter, but that is another debate) For the size, that entirely depends on the definition of “planet”. Since Pluto is out, and there are only 8 major planets according to the current definition, Mercury is the smallest, and the second smallest is Mars.
