How are the planets in our solar system arranged in a specific order around the Sun, and how does their size play a role in determining that order?
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The material in the planets now used to be in a big dust cloud surrounding the star. Stuff clumped together into larger objects.
So the planets are where they are now just because they’re far enough apart to not easily get disturbed into colliding with each other, and they’re the size they are because that’s how much stuff was in the area. Though the gaseous hydrogen and helium that would have been on the inner planets got blown off by the solar wind. The gas giants have enough gravity that they can hold onto those lighter gases, which are the most common elements in the overall universe.
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