Download Quiz # 6 - Oglethorpe University

Quiz # 6
Fall 2008
Name: __________________________
Date: _____________
1. Suppose that observers using the Hubble Space Telescope detect around several
solar-type stars the presence of planets with the following characteristics: low density,
large size, polar diameters shorter than equatorial diameters, fluid surfaces, rapid
rotation. How would these planets be classified in terms of our solar system?
A) asteroids
B) terrestrial planets
C) comet nuclei
D) Jovian planets
2. The Earth has an average density of 5500 kg/m3, whereas the density of rock on its
surface is about 3000 kg/m3. What conclusion can be reached about the Earth's core
from this observation?
A) The core is composed of material with density about twice that of the surface
material.
B) The core consists of lower density material than surface rock.
C) The core is very hot.
D) The core is made of material far denser than surface rock.
3. Determination of the chemical composition of the atmospheres of the planets is carried
out most effectively by what type of study?
A) photometry—the measurement of the fading of light from their moons as they pass
behind the planet's atmosphere
B) measurement of their relative mean densities
C) measurement of their atmospheric temperature
D) spectroscopy—the measurement of absorption features in their spectra
4. A molecule moves within the atmosphere of a planet. It would be less likely that this
molecule would be retained in the atmosphere of this planet if
A) the molecule were more massive.
B) the planet were more massive.
C) the planet's atmosphere were hotter.
D) the planet's magnetic field were stronger.
5. Comets are typically
A) chunks of ice that begin to vaporize if they pass close to the Sun.
B) chunks of rock a few tens to hundreds of kilometers in diameter.
C) slushy mixtures of liquid and ice.
D) gaseous bodies from which some of the gas is pushed out by the Sun to form a long
tail.
6. It is found by the radioactive age-dating technique that only one-quarter of the original
sample of a radiogenic element remains, so the time is calculated to be two half-lives.
What does this time represent?
A) the age of the universe
B) the age of the solar system
C) the time since the formation of the elements
D) the time since the rock was formed
7. The surface temperature of Earth is actually warmer than expected from the amount of
sunlight received. This is a result of
A) Earth's magnetic field.
B) the greenhouse effect.
C) a large outflux of heat from Earth's interior.
D) the force of gravity on Earth's atmosphere.
8. “Chemical differentiation” in planetary sciences refers to
A) the formation of rocky planets in the hotter, inner solar system and gas giants in the
colder, outer regions.
B) the circulation of iron in the core of a planet, resulting in the generation of a
magnetic field.
C) the large-scale convection of rock in the mantle of a planet, that on Earth causes
continental drift.
D) the sinking of heavier elements toward the center of a planet and the floating of
lighter elements toward the surface.
9. What is the basic structure of Earth's interior?
A) solid iron inner core, molten iron outer core, rocky mantle, lighter rocky crust
B) molten iron inner core, molten rocky outer core, solid rocky mantle, lighter rocky
crust
C) molten iron core, molten rocky mantle, solid rocky crust
D) molten iron inner core, solid iron outer core, rocky mantle, lighter rocky crust
10. Why do transverse seismic S waves not traverse Earth's deep interior?
A) They cannot travel through the liquid part of the core.
B) Earth is not transparent to these electromagnetic waves.
C) They cannot travel through the dense, solid core.
D) They are surface waves and travel only along the surface of Earth.
Answer Key
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
D
D
D
C
A
D
B
D
A
A