Review for Test 1                                                                                         

1.      List the planets in our solar system in order from closest to farthest from the sun:

 

 

The First Discoveries About Earth and Sky

2.      True/False: The Zenith is the point directly overhead.

3.      True/False: The North Star (Polaris) was not at the celestial north pole when the Egyptians built the pyramids.

4.      True/False:  The North Star can never be seen from the southern hemisphere.

5.      Stars which do not appear to set are called ________________________ stars.

6.      True/False: The path the sun travels with respect to the stars is called the ecliptic.

7.      How many signs of the Zodiac are there?

8.      The Greeks were able to deduce that the earth was round by

  1. Observing that its shadow on the moon during lunar eclipses was round
  2. sailing around the world
  3. measuring the curve of the earth from Athens to Thebes
  4. they did not deduce that the earth was round

9.      ______ eclipses occur much  more frequently.
  1. Lunar
  2. Solar
  3. Lunar and Solar eclipses occur at the same rate

10.  What is the small-angle equation?

 

 

11.  Which of these things can the small angle equation not be used to measure:


  1. distance to an object
  2. speed of an object
  3. diameter of an object

12.  How long is the moon above the horizon each day?

13.  How long after rising is the moon highest in the sky?

14.  If the moon is new when it rises what phase will it be in when it sets?

15.  What time does the full moon rise?

16.  What time does the first quarter moon set?

17.  T/F: The Earth’s seasons are caused by the elliptical nature of its orbit around the sun.

18.  T/F: The Earth’s seasons are caused by the tilt of its axis.

 

The Copernican Revolution

19.  Define retrograde motion.

 

20.  _______________ ’s theory stated that the Earth was at the center of the solar system.

21.  T/F: Copernicus proposed the heliocentric model for the solar system.

22.  T/F: The phenomenon which occurs when you hold your thumb at arm’s length and it just covers the moon is called parallax.

23.  What is Kepler’s law of planetary motion relating period (P) to semimajor axis (a)?

 

24.   According to Kepler’s laws, a planet which is farther from the sun will take __________ than a planet which is closer to the sun to complete one orbit.
  1. longer
  2. the same as
  3. shorter

25.  Using Kepler’s law, a planet which has a semimajor axis (a) of 4 AU will have a period of how many years?


  1. ¼
  2. 4
  3. 8
  4. 16
  5. 64

26.  T/F: According to Kepler’s laws, planets travel in ellipses with the Earth at one focus.

27.  T/F: in addition to viewing the 6 planets visible with the naked eye (including Earth), Galileo able to view Uranus with his telescope.

28.  What is Newton’s universal law of gravity?

 

29.  According to Newton’s universal law of gravity, as the radius (R) increases, the force
  1. Increases
  2. increases as the square of the radius
  3. remains constant
  4. decreases as the inverse of the radius
  5. decreases as the inverse of the square of the radius

30.  According to Newton’s universal law of gravity, as the mass (M) increases, the force
  1. Increases
  2. increases as the square of the mass
  3. remains constant
  4. decreases as the inverse of the mass
  5. decreases as the inverse of the square of the mass

31.  If the force of gravity doubles, your mass


  1. is half as much, is one quarter as much
  2. remains the same
  3. doubles
  4. quadruples

32.  The distance from the Earth to the Sun is defined as how many Astronomical Units (AU’s)?

 

The Earth-Moon System

33.  The Earth is believed to be approximately how many years old?
  1. 4.6 million
  2. 4.6 billion
  3. 4.6 trillion

34.  The most common element used for radioative dating human settlements is
  1. Oxygen
  2. Carbon
  3. Uranium
  4. Hydrogen

35.  T/F: The process by which heavier minerals move away from the core of a body is called differentiation.

36.  If a tunnel were cut from the surface of the Earth to its center, one would encounter these in the following order:


  1. Mantle, core, crust
  2. Core, crust, mantle
  3. Crust, mantle, core

37.  T/F: Plate tectonics is causing the Himalayas to grow taller each year as the Indian sub-continent is slowly pushed into and under the Eurasian continent.

38.  T/F: The “ring of fire” traces the plate boundaries at the rim of the Atlantic Ocean.

39.  Scientists have found evidence of a giant impact crater in the Yucatan which caused


  1. An ice age
  2. Continental drift
  3. A mass extinction
  4. The hole in the ozone layer

40.  Most of earth’s oxygen came from


  1. Volcanoes
  2. Plants
  3. Animals
  4. Comets

41.  T/F: the ozone layer blocks most of the harmful UV rays from reaching Earth’s surface.

42.  The increase in which gas in the Earth’s atmosphere is most responsible for the greenhouse effect?


  1. Nitrogen
  2. Oxygen
  3. water vapor
  4. carbon dioxide
  5. Methane

43.  During what phase(s) of the moon are tides on Earth the strongest?


  1. New
  2. 1st & 3rd quarters
  3. 3rd quarter only
  4. tides are equal during all phases

44.  During what phase(s) of the moon are tides on Earth the weakest?


  1. New
  2. 1st & 3rd quarters
  3. Full
  4. tides are equal during all phases

 

The Terrestrial Planets

45.  What are the 4 terrestrial planets?

 

46.  Which terrestrial planet has no atmosphere?

47.  Which terrestrial planet was first thought to have “canals”?

48.  Which terrestrial planet has free oxygen in its atmosphere?

49.  If Earth experienced a runaway greenhouse effect, it would most closely resemble which terrestrial planet?

50.  Which terrestrial planet(s) exhibit phases when viewed from Earth?

51.  The meteorite ALH84001, which gained notoriety in 1996 when scientists claimed to have found the first record of life from beyond earth is believed to have originated from which terrestrial planet?

52.  T/F: Mercury’s 88 day “year” and 59 day “day” are due to tidal forces and resonances.

53.  T/F: Venus’ atmosphere is about 96 percent nitrogen.

54.  The surface temperature on Venus is about


  1. 250 K
  2. 500 K
  3. 750 K
  4. 1000 K

55.  The surface pressure on Venus is _______ than the surface pressure on Earth.
  1. much less
  2. the same as
  3. much more

56.  T/F:  The surface age of Venus is fairly uniform and much older than anywhere on Earth.

57.  T/F: Mars has no polar ice caps.

58.  T/F: The highest mountain on Mars, Olympus Mons, rises about twice as high as Mt. Everest, the highest mountain on Earth.

59.  T/F:  Even though there is currently no liquid water on the surface of Mars, there is evidence of past flows of water.

60.  The rate of impact craters forming on a surface _________ with time.
  1. increases
  2. decreases

 

 

ANSWERS

1.      Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

2.      T

3.      T

4.      T

5.      Circumpolar

6.      T

7.      12

8.      A

9.      A

10.  a / 206,265 = d / D

11.  B

12.  12 hours

13.  6 hours

14.  new

15.  6 p.m.

16.  noon

17.  F

18.  T

19.  The occasional (and temporary) reversal of a planet's motion among the stars to move from east to west; can occur only for planets beyond Earth's orbit and is most noticeable for Mars.

20.  Ptolemy

21.  T

22.  F

23.  P2 µ A3

24.  A

25.  C

26.  F

27.  F

28.  F = (G*m1*m2) / r2

29.  E

30.  A

31.  B

32.  One

33.  B

34.  B

35.  F

36.  C

37.  T

38.  F

39.  C

40.  B

41.  T

42.  D

43.  A

44.  B

45.  Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

46.  Mercury

47.  Mars

48.  Earth

49.  Venus

50.  Mercury and Venus

51.  Mars

52.  T

53.  T

54.  C

55.  C

56.  F

57.  F

58.  T

59.  T

60.  B