<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_giant" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Gas Giants</a> consist primarily of the gases hydrogen and helium, with a rocky/iron core. </p>

<p>The interiors of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_giant" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ice Giants</a> consist primarily of what astronomers call 'Ices'. These are compounds like water, methane and ammonia, and are so-named presumably because they are solid at cold (-200 C) temperatures, unlike hydrogen and helium, which remain gaseous up until very close to Absolute Zero.</p>

<p>Hydrogen and helium are very light, and it only takes a small amount of heat energy to make them fast enough to escape the gravitational field of most planets. Jupiter and Saturn are the only planets heavy enough to retain a significant fraction of hydrogen and helium (though the atmospheres of ice giants Uranus and Neptune consist mainly of hydrogen and helium, it's mainly ices further down).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-14T09:08:49.807Z
Still, ice giant is just a subclass of gas giants, isn't it? Shouldn't Jupiter and Saturn then get an own subclass name?
John
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-16T18:10:50.003Z
The concept that the gas giants have a rocky/iron core is suspect. The Juno spacecraft has shown that Jupiter does not have a differentiated rocky/iron core; it looks more like a diffuse core with lots of hydrogen and helium mixed with heavier elements. A recent study suggests the same is true for Saturn.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-16T01:14:41.043Z
2019-04-16T20:46:10.620Z
2019-04-16T20:46:10.620Z
Ingolifs
<p>What is the Difference of or the Structure of a GAS PLANET AND AN ICE GIANT Why they called ICE GIANTS like Neptune and Uranus. Do they have a similarity ? </p>

<planet>
Difference of Gas Giant Planet and Ice Giant?
roblox prisonlife
# Difference of Gas Giant Planet and Ice Giant?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-04-16)

What is the Difference of or the Structure of a GAS PLANET AND AN ICE GIANT Why they called ICE GIANTS like Neptune and Uranus. Do they have a similarity ?

**Tags:** planet

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-04-16. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

[Gas Giants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_giant) consist primarily of the gases hydrogen and helium, with a rocky/iron core.

The interiors of [Ice Giants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_giant) consist primarily of what astronomers call 'Ices'. These are compounds like water, methane and ammonia, and are so-named presumably because they are solid at cold (-200 C) temperatures, unlike hydrogen and helium, which remain gaseous up until very close to Absolute Zero.

Hydrogen and helium are very light, and it only takes a small amount of heat energy to make them fast enough to escape the gravitational field of most planets. Jupiter and Saturn are the only planets heavy enough to retain a significant fraction of hydrogen and helium (though the atmospheres of ice giants Uranus and Neptune consist mainly of hydrogen and helium, it's mainly ices further down).

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Still, ice giant is just a subclass of gas giants, isn't it? Shouldn't Jupiter and Saturn then get an own subclass name?  
> **username_3**: The concept that the gas giants have a rocky/iron core is suspect. The Juno spacecraft has shown that Jupiter does not have a differentiated rocky/iron core; it looks more like a diffuse core with lots of hydrogen and helium mixed with heavier elements. A recent study suggests the same is true for Saturn.  

---

