AS101 Module test banks.docx PDF

Preview

Summary

AS101 Final Exam Test BankModule 1:Question 1: Which of the following is largest? A. Size of a typical galaxy B. 1 Astronomical unit C. Distance to the nearest star (other than our sun) D. 1 light year E. size of Pluto’s orbitQuestion 2: On the Cosmic Calendar about when did the solar system begin t...

Description

AS101 Final Exam Test Bank Module 1: Question 1: Which of the following is largest? A. Size of a typical galaxy B. 1 Astronomical unit C. Distance to the nearest star (other than our sun) D. 1 light year E. size of Pluto’s orbit Question 2: On the Cosmic Calendar about when did the solar system begin to form? Answer: Sometime around Labour Day – September 1 Question 3: Which of the following statements does not use the term light year in an appropriate way? Answer: It will take me light-years to complete this homework assignment. Question 4: On the Cosmic Calendar (where the age of the universe in condensed into the equivalent to one calendar year) most of recorded history takes up what portion of the “year”? Answer: the last few seconds of the year Question 5: Which of the following is furthest from the Sun? A. a comet in the Kuiper belt B. an asteroid in the asteroid belt C. a comet in the Oort cloud D. Pluto E. Neptune Question 6: What is an Astronomical Unit (AU)? a. 1.5 x 10 kilometres (km). b. 1.5 x 10 metres c. 150 million kilometres d. The average distance between the Sun and the Earth. e. All of the above 8

11

Question 7: Which of the following best describes the Milky Way Galaxy? Answer: A spiral galaxy with a disk about 80,000 light-years in diameter and containing between 100 billion and 1 trillion stars Question 8: Which of the following statements about the sizes of stars is most true? Answer: Rigel, the bluish star representing the left foot of Orion, is considerably larger than the Sun

Question 9: The nearest star to the Sun (and us) is Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf in the Alpha Centauri system. How far away from the Sun is Proxima Centauri? Answer: 4.2 light years Question 10: Which of the following is closest to the Sun? a. Mercury b. Earth c. Saturn d. Pluto e. A comet in the Oort Cloud Question 11: What is light year? Answer: The distance light travels in one year Question 12: On the Cosmic Calendar when did the big bang occur? Answer: January 1 Question 13: The order of the planets beyond Earth, away from the Sun, is Answer: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto Question 14: Which of the following statements about sidereal and solar days is not true? Answer: The time it takes for the Moon to make one circuit of our sky is one solar day. Question 15: Which of the following correctly describes the meridian in your sky? Answer: a half-circle extending from your horizon due north, through your zenith, to your horizon due south Question 16: Which of the following statements about the ecliptic plane is not true? Answer: It is the plane of the Moon's orbit around the Earth. Question 17: What makes the North Star, Polaris, special? Answer: It appears very near the north celestial pole. Question 18: Which of the following statements about the Celestial Sphere is not true. Answer: The Celestial Equator lies in the Ecliptic Plane Question 19: The ecliptic is the apparent path of the Sun moving how? Answer: eastward among the stars Question 20: What is the ecliptic? Answer: The Sun's apparent path along the celestial sphere Question 21: You are standing on the Earth's equator at midnight. Which way is Polaris, the North star?

Answer: on the northern horizon Question 22: Suppose you live on the Moon. How long is a day (i.e., from sunrise to sunrise)? Answer: a lunar month Question 23: Which of the following statements about the Moon is true? Answer: The Moon's distance from the Earth varies during its orbit. Question 24: We can't detect stellar parallax with naked-eye observations. Which of the following would make parallax easier to observe? Answer: increasing the size of the earths orbit Question 25: Patterns of stars in constellations hardly change in appearance over times of even a few thousand years. Why? Answer: The stars in our sky actually move rapidly relative to us thousands of kilometres per hour but are so far away that it takes a long time for this motion to make a noticeable change in the patterns in the sky. Question 26: Each cycle of the Earth’s precession takes about Answer: 26,000 years Question 27: What happens during the apparent retrograde motion of a planet? Answer: The planet appears to move westward with respect to the stars over a period of many nights. Question 28: If the Moon was in its same orbital plane but twice as far from Earth, which of the following would happen? Answer: Total eclipses of the Sun would not happen. Question 29: The tilt of the Earth’s axis causes the seasons because Answer: the rays of light strike the ground more directly in summer Question 30: On the vernal and autumnal equinoxes a. every place on Earth has 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness b. the Sun rises due east and sets due west c. the Sun’s path is coincident with the celestial equator d. all of A, B and C Question 31: The number of days in a month is associated with Answer: Lunar Phases Question 32: Suppose the date is June 21 and the Sun never sets, just touching your northern horizon at midnight. Where are you? Answer: The Arctic Circle

Question 33: Right ascension is expressed in Answer: Hours, minutes and seconds from 0 to 24 hours Question 34: The problem with the Julian calendar was that it was Answer: Too short by 11 minutes in a year Question 35: The calendar we use now is called the Answer: Gregorian after Pope Gregory Question 36: Latitude in stellar coordinates is known as Answer: Declination Question 37: Day and night are caused by Answer: the rotation of the Earth on its axis Question 38: Mars is in opposition with the Earth when it is Answer: Perfectly in line with the Sun and Earth with the Earth between the Sun and Mars. Question 39: If you lived at the North Pole at night the stars would Answer: never rise or set but move in circles around Polaris, the North Star. Question 40: Which of the following is the reason for the solar day being longer than a sidereal day? Answer: the combined effect of the rotation of the Earth and its orbit about the Sun Question 41: which of the following statements about lunar phases is true? Answer: it is possible to have 2 full moons during January but not during February Question 42: which of the following celestial phenomena is the smallest? Answer: the orbit of the moon Question 43: Suppose you lived at the Earth’s equator. Which of the following statements would not be true? Answer: the celestial equator goes through your sky from due east on your horizon, through 50 degrees altitude in the south, to due west on the horizon Question 44: When you observe a star for a period of a few hours, you notice that it moves across the sky. What is responsible for this motion? Answer: Earths rotation on its axis Question 45: The order of the planets, from the sun outward is Answer: mercury, Venus, earth, mars, Jupiter, Saturn

Question 46: One light year is closest to what distance Answer: ten million kilometers Question 47: Which of the following is the best reason for the leap years Answer: the combined effect of the rotation of the earth and the precession of the earth’s axis Question 48: The apparent visual magnitude of star A is +2 and the apparent visual magnitude Of star B is +1. Based on this information which statement below must be true Answer: light output distance cannot be determined from a stars apparent visual magnitude alone Question 49: Which of the following would appear brightest in the night sky Answer: The full moon Question 50: What conditions are required for a lunar eclipse Answer: the phase of the moon must be full, and the nodes of the moons orbit must be nearly aligned with the earth and the sun Question 51: The size of a hockey rink is best measured in what units Answer: meters Question 52: If the moon is setting at midnight, the phase of the moon must be Answer: first quarter

Question 53: Which of the following statements is true? Answer: Answer is both B and C Statements were - Both the northern and southern hemispheres receive the same amount of sunlight on the equinoxes - The northern hemisphere receives the most direct sunlight on the summer solstice Question 54: Which of the following best describes the tropic of Cancer Answer: it is a place where the sun is directly overhead at noon on the summer solstice Question 55: The sun is rising in the east and will be on your meridian in 2 hours. What time is it currently? Answer: 10 am Question 56: While in Bracebridge, ON where the latitude is 45 degrees, at the spring equinox (about March 21st) the sun follows the path where it Answer: rises due east, crosses the meridian at an altitude of 45 degrees in the south, and sets due west Question 57: What conditions are required for a solar eclipse

Answer: the phase of the moon must be new, and the nodes of the moons orbit must be nearly aligned with the earth and the sun Question 58: Which of the following is the furthest from the sun? Answer: Proxima Centauri Question 59: If it is midnight in waterloo it is Answer: daytime in Sydney, Australia Question 60: The lunar month is longer than the sidereal month because Answer: the moon has to complete more than one full orbit around the earth to complete the cycle of lunar phases Question 61: Which of the following celestial phenomena is the largest Answer: the milky way galaxy Question 62: How long does it take light from the surface of the sun to get to earth? Answer: a few minutes Question 63: Which of the following has your address in the correct order? In this question the local group also means thee local Clusters Answer: you, Earth, Solar system, Milky Way, Local Group, Local super cluster Question 64: The size of our galaxy in light years is closest to which of the following numbers Answer: 100000 Question 65: Which statement below most accurately describes modern constellations? Answer: there are 88 well-defined regions on the celestial sphere Question: the solar system consists of Answer: the sun and its planets, asteroids and comets Question: what is the largest object in the solar system? Answer: The sun Question: In our journey outward from the Sun, what is a feature you notice about the spacing of the planets. Answer: the inner planets are grouped together relatively close to the sun while the planets from Jupiter to Neptune are spaced much further apart. Question: Each of the following shows a constellation followed by a bright star. In all cases but one, the star is part of the constellation. Which one is a mismatch? Answer: Canis Minor, Polaris

Question: Which of the following statements about the Moon is false? Answer: The side of the moon we never see from Earth is always in darkness. Question: On the summer solstice in June, the Sun will be directly above ________ and all locations north of _____________ will experience daylight all day. Answer: The Tropic of Cancer: The Artic Circle Question: If you see the Moon rising in the Earth just as the Sun is setting in the west then the phase of the Moon is Answer: Full

Module 2 Question 1: Galileo observed that Venus had phases very similar to the phases our Moon goes through. From this he concluded that Answer: Venus must, therefore, orbit the Sun and not Earth. Question 2: Which of the following is not one of, nor follows directly from, Kepler's laws? Answer: When a planet travels at slower speeds it must be nearer the Sun and when it speeds up it must be as far from the Sun as it can get. Question 3: Suppose you read on a newspaper website that a new planet has been found having an average speed of 33 km/sec. When it’s closest to the star it moves at 31 km/sec and when it’s farthest it moves at 35 km/sec. Why is this information incorrect? Answer: From Kepler’s second law we infer that a planet must move fastest when it’s closest, not when I t is farthest away. Question 4: Which of the following is not part of Newton’s universal law of gravitation? Answer: The gravitational attraction between two objects depends directly on the distance between their centres of mass. Question 5: Kepler’s third law of planetary motion states that Answer: The cube of the semi-major axis of a planet’s orbit is directly proportional to the square of its period of motion around the Sun. Question 6: Which of the following is not an example of a “pseudoscience”? Answer: Astronomy Question 7: The names of the seven days of the week are based on the Answer: seven naked-eye objects that appear to move among the constellations. Question 8: The Metonic cycle recognizes what? Answer: The cycle of lunar phases that repeats every 19 years.

Question 9: Which of the following best describes the origin of ocean tides on Earth? Answer: Tides are caused by the difference in the force of gravity exerted by the Moon across the sphere of the Earth. Question 10: Spring tides occur Answer: At any time of the year when the Moon is full. Question 11: When Copernicus first created his Sun-centred model of the universe, it did not lead to substantially better predictions of planetary positions than the Ptolemaic model. Why not? Answer: Copernicus used perfect circles for the orbits of the planets. Question 12: Galileo was a very important figure in the development of astronomy. Which of the following statements about Galileo’s accomplishments is false? Answer: Galileo looked at the Moon through his telescope and observed rivers, mountains and lakes filled with liquid. Question 13: Which statement about the Cosmological Principle is valid? Answer: It is based on two tenets involving the universality of the laws of physics and chemistry and the belief that there is nothing special about the Earth. Question 14: Galileo observed that Jupiter has moons. From this information you may conclude that Answer: some things do not orbit Earth. Question 15: Which of the following is not regarded as a heat transfer mechanism? Answer: Segregation Question 16: A green apple (nor your Mac computer) looks green because Answer: it reflects green light and absorbs all other colors Question 17: Which of the following is not a unit of speed? Answer: centimetres/light-year Question 18: What is acceleration? Answer: It is the rate of change of velocity with time. Question 19: Which of the following statements about orbital motion is not true? Answer: An elliptical orbit is an example of an open orbit. Question 20: Which of the following statements correctly describes the law of conservation of energy? Answer: The total quantity of energy in the universe never changes.

Question 21: Which of the following statements is not one of Newton's laws of motion? Answer: The net force applied to an object is equal to its mass times its velocity. Question 22: A skater can spin faster by pulling in her arms closer to her body or spin slower by spreading her arms out from her body. This is due to Answer: The conservation of angular momentum. Question 23: If your mass is 75 kg on Earth, what would be your mass on Saturn which is about 95 times as massive as Earth? Answer: About the same, 75 kg Question 24: Suppose that the Sun were to suddenly disappear from our solar system. What would happen to Earth’s motion? Answer: It would begin travelling in a straight line heading out of the solar system. Question 25: What does temperature measure? Answer: the average kinetic energy of particles in a substance Question 26: The amount of matter contained in an object is called its mass. Which of the following statements about mass is false? Answer: The average human mass is about 150 pounds. Question 27: Radiative (or radiant) energy is Answer: light energy Question 28: Without telescopes or other aid, we can see the Moon in the night sky because it Answer: reflects visible light coming from the Sun Question 29: What do astronomers mean by light pollution? Answer: Light pollution refers to light used for human activities that brightens the sky and hinders astronomical observations. Question 30: From laboratory measurements, we know that a particular spectral line formed by hydrogen appears at a wavelength of 486.1 nanometers (nm). The spectrum of a particular star shows the same hydrogen line appearing at a wavelength of 496.1 nm (in other words, redshifted or having a longer wavelength). What can we conclude? Answer: The star is moving away from us. Question 31: The light gathering power of a 10-cm telescope is _____________ that of a 20-cm telescope. Answer: less than Question 32: The wavelength of a wave is

Answer: the distance between two adjacent peaks of the wave. Question 33: The trouble with refraction telescopes is that Answer: different colours of visible starlight get focussed to different points in space making the image blurry Question 34: The larger the size of the telescope the greater the what? Answer: light gathering ability Question 35: The frequency of a wave is a. the number of peaks passing by any point each second. b. measured in cycles per second. c. measured in Hertz (Hz). d. equal to the speed of the wave divided by the wavelength of the wave. e. all of the above Question 36: The 29.5-day lunar month results in full moon dates that slowly change from month to month. Eventually, this entire cycle repeats such that a full moon that occurred on November 19 one year, let’s say, occurs on November 19 again some years later. Which of the following statements about this cycle is true? Answer: This cycle repeats every 19 years when the lunar phases occur again on the same dates. Question 37: Which of the following statements about X-rays and radio waves is not true? Answer: Neither X-rays nor radio waves can penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere. Question 38: Suppose the angular separation of two stars is smaller than the angular resolution of your eyes. How will the stars appear to your eyes? Answer: The two stars will look like a single point of light. Question 39: From lowest energy to highest energy, which of the following correctly orders the different categories of electromagnetic radiation? Answer: radio, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X rays, gamma rays Question 40: The two basic types of telescopes are what? Answer: reflection and refraction Question 41: Which of the following statements about electrons is not true Answer: Electrons are actually neutrons that have acquired an electrical charge Question 42: Considering Einstein's famous equation E =mc2 which of the following is true Answer: A small amount of mass can be turned into a large amount of energy

Question 43: Upon what quantities does angular momentum depend Answer: Mass velocity radius Question 44: The amount of matter contained in an object is called its mass. Which of the following is false Answer: If you were to go to the moon your mass would be lower than your mass on Earth because gravity is less on the moon Question 45: Where does the energy come from that your body uses to keep you alive Answer: Mostly it comes from the foods you eat Question 46: The scientific method is best described by which of the following: Answer: A system of collecting analyzing data, formulating a hypothesis, testing it and reforming it as needed Question 47: If your mass is 60 KG on earth would it be on Jupiter Answer: 60 kg Question 48: Ptolemy was important in history of astronomy because he Answer: Developed a model of the solar system that made sufficiently accurate predictions of planetary positions to remain in use for centuries Question 49: Radiative energy is Answer: Energy carried by light Question 50: Retrograde motion is observable for what objects Answer: Planets located more distant from the sun than earth Question 51: The Doppler shift is a wave phenomenon that Answer: Uses change in wavelength of light to determine speed of a moving star Question 52: At which lunar phases are the tides smallest Answer: both first and 3 rd

Question 53: Spectral line formed by hydrogen appears at a wavelength of 486.1 nanometres the spectrum of a star sows the same hydrogen line appearing at 485.2 what can we conclude Answer: The star is moving towards us Question 54: Which of the following is not a unit of energy Answer: Kilowatt Question 55: Spectroscopy can be used to Answer: all of the above

Question 56: Which of the following statements best describes the principle advantage of teles...