# Assessment Instructions: Problem Set 05 — Atmospheric Escape and Planetary Magnetic Fields

## Inputs to Inspect
Student submission, this problem set, the solution key, the corresponding lecture slides/notes, and the shared
constants in `materials/ASTR320/src/generate_astr320_content.py` where a problem reuses course data.

## Grading Standard
Award credit for correct method and units first, then for the specific numeric result. A student who shows correct
reasoning with a small arithmetic slip should receive most of the available credit; a student with a correct-looking
number but no visible derivation steps should not. Because this is a 300-level quantitative course, full marks require
a genuine derivation (not just formula substitution) wherever the problem set asks for one.

## Problem-Level Criteria
- Problem 1: both planets' Jeans parameters must be computed and correctly compared to Lecture 09's hydrogen values.
- Problem 2: must identify BOTH that solar activity and Mars's own atmospheric thickness likely changed over time, not just one factor.
- Problem 3: must apply the sixth-root scaling, not a linear or squared scaling, to the standoff-distance ratio.
- Problem 4: must explicitly distinguish induced from intrinsic fields using the dynamo-requirement language from Lecture 10.
- Problem 5: must correctly resolve the apparent tension between helium's relatively large lambda and its low observed abundance via the low-supply-rate argument.

## Resubmission Policy
Students may resubmit within one week of receiving feedback. A resubmission must show a corrected derivation, not
only a corrected final number, and should reference the specific feedback comment it addresses. Regrade to a maximum
of 90% of the original point value unless the error was a grading mistake.

## Common Errors to Flag
- Applying a linear or squared (rather than sixth-root) scaling to the magnetopause standoff-distance ratio (Problem 3).
- Treating a present-day measured escape rate as directly applicable to the entire planetary history without qualification (Problem 2).
- Concluding from a large Jeans parameter alone that a species must be abundant in the atmosphere, without considering its supply rate (Problem 5).