PHYS1160 Activity 5 Attempt review PDF

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PHYS1160-Introduction to Astronomy - T3 2021 Dashboard  My courses  PHYS1160-5219_01557  Module 2 (Weeks 3 & 4) — The Solar System  PHYS1 Started on Wednesday, 3 November 2021, 1:15 AM State Finished Completed on Wednesday, 3 November 2021, 1:35 AM Time taken 19 mins 48 secs Marks 11.83/13.00 Grade 9.10 out of 10.00 (91%)

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The Earth - Sun system The Earth is a planet that orbits a star, the Sun. The Sun is a primary source of energy for living creatures on Earth. Stars and planets are very different. Stars shines because they produce their energy via thermonuclear reactions, planets shine mostly with reflected light from the parent star. Planets are significantly smaller than the Sun. The solar diameter is about 109 diameters of the Earth. Review the first section of Lesson 5 and answer questions 1 and 2 about the composition of the Earth and Sun.

The Sun and the enlarged Earth. In reality the Earth's diameter is the size of smallest spots on the surface of the Sun.

Question 1 Correct Mark 1.00 out of 1.00

The two main elements that make up the Sun are: (2 attempts) Select one or more: Deuterium Helium Hydrogen

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Carbon

Your answer is correct. The Sun is mainly composed of hydrogen and helium with small addition of heavier elements. The correct answers are: Helium, Hydrogen

Question 2 Correct Mark 1.00 out of 1.00

What are the main elements in the composition of the Earth? (2 attempts) Select one: Oxygen, hydrogen, carbon Oxygen, iron, helium Oxygen, silicon, iron Oxygen, magnesium, uranium

Your answer is correct.  The Earth is composed mainly of heavier elements like oxygen, silicon and iron that form molecules which in turn can form rocky material. The correct answer is: Oxygen, silicon, iron

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The Earth - Moon system The Moon is the closest neighbour to the Earth in the Solar System. It is the only body outside the Earth that humans have visited. Scientists think that the presence of the Moon may have helped the development of life on Earth by stabilizing the axis of Earth's rotation leading to stable seasonal changes.

The image of our planet seen from the Moon by astronauts of Apollo missions.

Question 3 Correct Mark 1.00 out of 1.00

The Moon moves in a slightly elliptical orbit around the Earth and at its closest approach to Earth (called perigee) is about 363000 km away, while it is furthest distance from the Earth (called apogee) is almost 405700 km. If you could fly to the Moon on a Jumbo Jet that can travel as fast as 900 km per hour, how many days would your trip take if you tried to reach Moon while it is at its perigee? Round your answer to integer number. (2 attempts) Select one: 2 7 17 34 96

Your answer is correct. A trip to the Moon with the Jumbo Jet would take almost 17 days during the closest approach (perigee). The correct answer is: 17

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Question 4 Correct Mark 1.00 out of 1.00

Tides on Earth arise due to the combined effect of the Solar and Moon's gravity. Does the Sun's presence have more influence on the tides on Earth than the gravity of the Moon?(2 attempts) Select one: Yes No

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Your answer is correct. Tides occur due to gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun. Since gravitational force is proportional to the mass of the Moon or Sun, and inversely proportional to the square of their distance, it turns out that the Moon which is much less massive than the Sun but also much less distant, exerts stronger pull on the Earth than the Sun. The correct answer is: No

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Planets The largest and most significant objects in the Solar system are its eight planets. The distance of the planets to the Sun is measured in Astronomical Units (AU). One AU corresponds to the average distance of the Earth to the Sun. Within 2 AU from the Sun, in the inner Solar system, there are four small planets made mostly of rocks. In the outer Solar system, beyond 4.5 AU, there are four gas giant planets that are composed of hydrogen, helium and some molecules. In the simulation below you can compare relative sizes of different planets and the Sun by dragging the image of the object into one of the empty boxes. You will find that on this scale Mercury will almost be invisible in comparison with the Sun.

There is a large gap in sizes between rocky and giant planets. It is interesting that our Solar System does not have planets that have a size somewhere in between. However you will find later, that other extrasolar systems have planets called super-earths, which fill in this gap.

Question 5 Correct Mark 0.33 out of 1.00

Choose the largest planet out of the four inner planets of the Solar System and compare it with the smallest out of four giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune). How much larger is the diameter of the smallest giant compared with the largest "rocky" planet? Provide answer as a rounded whole number, no fractions. (3 attempts)

Answer:

4

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The smallest giant planet is Neptune, and the largest rocky planet is the Earth. The ratio of their radii is 3.9 (rounded to 4). The correct answer is: 4

Question 6 Correct Mark 1.00 out of 1.00

Mercury and Jupiter are shown but not to scale. Mercury is almost the same size as Callisto, Jupiter's moon. The black dot on the Jupiter image is a transit of one of his moons in front of the planetary disk. To get a better idea about the size difference of both planets, note that the size of this black shadow due to moon's transit is similar to the size of Mercury.

Above: Jupiter

Above: Mercury The size is only one feature that makes rocky planets different from gas giants. Can you name some others? (2 attempts) Select one or more: Giant planets have many more moons than inner planets.

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Giant planets have thinner atmospheres than inner planets. Giant planets are hotter than inner planets. Giant planets have rings.

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Your answer is correct. Giant planets have many moons. All the giant planets in the Solar system have rings. The correct answers are: Giant planets have many more moons than inner planets., Giant planets have rings.

Question 7 Correct Mark 1.00 out of 1.00

Asteroids, Dwarf Planets and Kuiper Belt Objects The Solar System is populated by many smaller bodies than planets. Asteroids are located in the belt between the orbit of Mars and Jupiter, and were first discovered in 1801. They are made of rock and have irregular structure. Dwarf planets are round in shape. Recently Pluto was redefined to be one, as are many similar small objects found in the Kuiper belt, which is populated also by large number of smaller asteroids made of ice and rock. The New Horizons mission was the first one to explore Pluto and Kuiper Belt. Read the following article to learn more about it: New Horizon's encounter with Pluto.

Research the definition of dwarf planets. From your research, you can conclude that Vesta is a/an 

. (2 attempts)

Your answer is correct. Vesta is not a dwarf planet because it is not massive enough for its gravity to give a spherical form. Vesta does not have a spherical shape and so does not satisfy the definition of a dwarf planet. It is defined as an asteroid. The correct answer is:

Asteroids, Dwarf Planets and Kuiper Belt Objects

The Solar System is populated by many smaller bodies than planets. Asteroids are located in the belt between the orbit of Mars and Jupiter, and were first discovered in 1801. They are made of rock and have irregular structure. Dwarf planets are round in shape. Recently Pluto was redefined to be one, as are many similar small objects found in the Kuiper belt, which is populated also by large number of smaller asteroids made of ice and rock. The New Horizons mission was the first one to explore Pluto and Kuiper Belt. Read the following article to learn more about it: New Horizon's encounter with Pluto.

Research the definition of dwarf planets. From your research, you can conclude that Vesta is a/an [asteroid]. (2 attempts)

Question 8 Correct Mark 0.50 out of 1.00

From the list below choose the objects that belong to the Kuiper Belt. (2 attempts) Select one or more: Triton Ceres Pluto Quaoar

Your answer is correct. Pluto and Quaoar are Kuiper belt objects. The correct answers are: Pluto, Quaoar

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Comets Comets are small bodies of the Solar System made of ice and rocks. They were most likely formed in the outer Solar System and originate within the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud. Some comets approach the Sun periodically. Other comets approach the Sun only once. The spectacular tails are formed when the comet approaches and is heated by the Sun. In the simulation below, you can learn different components of a comet by dragging and dropping them in the empty positions. This is not marked.

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The nucleus is an inner part of the comet's head. It is made of ices and rocky material. The coma appears when a comet approaches the Sun, and substances present at the surface of nucleus start to change into gases. A dust tail develops when the radiation pressure from the Sun removes small particles from the cometary head. A gas tail forms due to solar wind of ionised particles that remove gas particles from coma. A gas tail is straight, bluish, and stretches in a straight, radial direction from the Sun.

Question 9 Correct Mark 1.00 out of 1.00

Formation of the Solar System The current theory of Solar System formation follows the idea proposed first by Pierre-Simon Laplace who hypothesised that the Solar System formed from a nebula of gas and dust, which later collapsed under its gravity into a disk. The central parts of that disk formed the Sun and the outer parts coalesced into planets and smaller bodies. The remaining gas and dust was blown away by the Solar wind of energetic particles. The stages of Solar System formation are shown in the video.

Which of the following describes patterns of motion in the Solar System? Choose all that apply. (2 attempts) Select one or more: All planets orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane.

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The outer planets are so large that they nearly collide with each other on each orbit. All planets except Mercury have nearly circular orbits (eccentricity < 0.1).

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Planets closer to the Sun have unstable orbits that approach each other. Inner planets orbit the Sun in the opposite direction from the outer planets. All the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction.

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Your answer is correct.  The correct choices are: All planets orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane. All planets (except Mercury) have nearly circular orbits (eccentricity < 0.1) All planets orbit the Sun in the same direction Spinning of the nebula allows more efficient accretion of material in the plane that is at straight angle to the rotation axis, which makes it to flatten and develop rotating disk. From this it follows that planets will form in preferentially the same plane as the disk, and will orbit in the same direction as the disk.

The orbits of planets are close to circular with exception of Mercury and Pluto (a dwarf planet). These features provide clues to how the Solar system formed. The correct answers are: All planets orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane., All planets except Mercury have nearly circular orbits (eccentricity < 0.1)., All the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction.

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Solar System Formation After watching the video clip on the previous question, you should be able to decide what is a correct timeline for different stages of the Solar System formation. In this simulation correct choices will fit perfectly in the boxes (and go from greyed out to full colour). Try until you find the correct sequence of events. (Even if the simulation shows some score out of 2 at the end, this question will not be marked.)

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In the first stage of solar system formation we need a nebula with gas and dust in it. The nebula starts to collapse gravitationally while rotating. Think what happens next. The protoplanetary disk develops from the rotating nebula and first planetesimals (small rocks) start to form. Read notes about solar system formation from Lesson 5 to understand the next processes. The correct sequence of different stages of the Solar System formation are: Phase 1 - Gas and dust nebula Phase 2 - Disk formation Phase 3 - First Planetesimals Phase 4 - Forming planets Phase 5 - Current Solar System

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Planetary Atmospheres Almost all planets of the Solar System have atmospheres composed of gas mixtures. Mercury is an exception, too small and too close to the Sun to keep an atmosphere. The thin layer of gases close to its surface is called an exosphere, because it does not have typical climatic effects the atmosphere provides.

Question 10 Correct Mark 1.00 out of 1.00

Gas giants have, so called, primary atmospheres, that were captured from the protoplanetary nebula during planet formation. What is the main component of such atmospheres? (2 attempts) Select one: Nitrogen Oxygen Hydrogen

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Carbon dioxide Sulfuric acid

Your answer is correct. The main component of gas giant atmospheres is hydrogen. Hydrogen is the most common element and massive planets that formed in the cooler environment of the Solar system, were able to attract a thick atmosphere of hydrogen. The correct answer is: Hydrogen

Question 11 Correct Mark 1.00 out of 1.00

According to the video clip, what drives powerful storms in the atmosphere of Jupiter? (2 attempts) Select one: Greenhouse gases that keep Jupiter warmer than it would be without them. The planet's hot interior.

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Tidal influence of Jupiter's moons.

Your answer is correct. Jupiter's hot interior drives powerful storms in the atmosphere of the planet. The correct answer is: The planet's hot interior.

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Greenhouse effect A substantial atmosphere helps to stabilise climate and warm up a planet. Greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation emitted by the planet's surface. Venus with an atmosphere composed mainly of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, has an extremely hot surface at 462 degrees C. It experienced a runaway greenhouse effect.

Question 12 Correct Mark 1.00 out of 1.00

A greenhouse gas traps

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in the atmosphere.(2 attempts)

Your answer is correct. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere. The correct answer is: A greenhouse gas traps [heat] in the atmosphere.(2 attempts)

Question 13 Correct Mark 1.00 out of 1.00

Rocky planets like Venus, Earth and Mars have secondary atmospheres that appeared after outgassing during periods of often violent volcanic activity. Such activity is believed to have led to the formation of clouds on Venus. What is the composition of these clouds?(2 attempts) Select one: Pure water vapour Mixture of sulfuric acid and water vapour Methane and ethane

Your answer is correct. Clouds in the atmosphere of Venus are composed of mixture of sulphuric acid and water vapour. The correct answer is: Mixture of sulfuric acid and water vapour

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