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Astronomy 1001
Midterm
Name:
Instructions:
Mark your answers on this test as you will NOT get your bubble sheet back.
One side of one page of notes is allowed. Calculators are NOT allowed.
Fill in your name and ID number on the bubble sheet.
Use a #2 pencil on the bubble sheet. Make your bubbles dark and neat.
There are 5 T/F questions worth 2 pts., 30 multiple choice questions each worth 4 pts. and your
choice of 3 short answer questions worth 10 pts. each.
True/False ( True = A, False = B )
1. People in Argentina can see constellations that people in Spain can not see
_____
2. An Elephant running at 15 km/hr has more kinetic energy than one walking at 2 km/hr
_____
3. If the Earth's orbit was a perfect circle we would not have seasons
_____
4. You can see a waxing crescent Moon at sunrise in St. Paul
_____
5. Earth is the largest terrestrial planet
_____
Multiple Choice
6. Mars is red because:
_____
A) it appears red because of an optical illusion
B) its surface rocks have rusted
C) it is primarily made of copper and copper compounds
D) its atmosphere absorbs red light
E) Aliens painted it that color
7. Tycho Brahe's contribution to Astronomy included :
_____
A) inventing the telescope
B) discovering the moons of Jupiter
C) proving the Earth orbits the Sun
D) inventing epicycles
E) providing accurate data used by Kepler
8. When it is winter in Australia
A) it is winter everywhere
B) it is summer in South America
C) it is winter only in Australia, summer everywhere else
D) it is winter in the United States
E) it is summer in Canada
_____
9. The terrestrial planet cores contain mostly metal because
_____
A) the entire planets are made of mostly metal
B) radioactivity created metals in the core from the decay of Uranium
C) convection carried the metals to the core
D) metals sank to the center during a time when the interiors were molten throughout
E) metals condensed first in the solar nebula and the rocks then accreted around them
10. Earth is closer to the Sun in January than in July. Using Kepler's 2nd law you know that:
_____
A) Earth travels faster in July
B) Earth travels faster in January
C) It is winter everywhere on Earth in January
D) Earth travels the same speed year around
E) winter is milder in the Northern Hemisphere
11. The sky appears blue because:
_____
A) blue light is reflected from the blue oceans
B) the atmosphere absorbs all of the colors except blue
C) the atmosphere emits blue light
D) blue light is scattered by the atmosphere
E) none of the above
12. The order of the first six planets of the solar system is:
_____
A) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter
B) Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn, Mercury
C) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
D) Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus
E) Venus, Earth, Mercury, Mars, Uranus, Jupiter
13. Which of the following worlds has the most substantial atmosphere?
_____
A) Mercury
B) Venus
C) Earth
D) Moon
E) Mars
14. Which of the following is NOT an acceleration?
A) the Moon orbiting around the Earth
B) a greyhound running around a track at a constant 35 km/hr
C) sliding across ice in a straight line
D) a bowl of petunias falling to the Earth
E) you slowing down your car at a stop sign
_____
15. If there is going to be a lunar eclipse tonight then the phase of the Moon must be
_____
A) Full
B) Waxing crescent
C) New
D) Waning Gibbous
E) The phase of the Moon could be anything during a lunar eclipse
16. Why is scientific theory supposed to predict and not just explain fact after fact?
_____
A) the scientific method says so
B) explanations are easy to come up with after something happens, these explanations might not
be right
C) Predicting things before they happen requires more understanding, you are more likely to
have the correct explanation
D) B and C
E) None of the Above
17. Blue light
_____
A) has a longer wavelength than orange light
B) has a lower frequency than green light
C) has less energy than red light
D) travels faster than yellow light
E) none of the above
18. Why isn't Pluto defined as a planet?
_____
A) because it is too small
B) it is too far from the Sun
C) it has not cleared it's orbit of “debris”
D) because it is not round
E) because scientists are meanies
19. Why is Jupiter denser than Saturn?
_____
A) Jupiter's higher mass and gravity compress its interior.
B) Jupiter has a larger portion of rock
C) Jupiter is more compressed by the Sun's gravity.
D) Saturn is “puffed” by tidal interactions.
E) They are the same mass, but Jupiter has a smaller radius.
20. The Moon's angular momentum:
A) is constant
B) is greatest at perigee
C) is smallest at perigee
D) is greatest at apogee
E) is smallest at apogee
_____
21. How do asteroids differ from comets?
_____
A) Asteroids are made of icy material while comets are made of rocky material.
B) Asteroids and comets are both made of rocky and icy material, but asteroids are larger in size
than comets.
C) Asteroids are made of rocky material. Comets are made of icy material.
D) Asteroids and comets are both made of rocky and icy material, but comets are larger in size
than comets.
E) Asteroids are made of metals while comets are made of rocky material.
22. Amongst these choices, your weight is greatest:
_____
A) On Mars
B) On Earth
C) In space
D) in the center of the Sun
E) your weight is constant everywhere
23. Two stars that are in the same constellation
_____
A) must both be part of the same cluster of stars in space.
B) must have both been discovered at the same time.
C) must be of equal brightness.
D) may actually be very far away from each other.
E) must have the same temperature.
24. In winter, Earth's axis points toward the star Polaris. In spring,
_____
A) the axis still points toward Polaris.
B) the axis is pointed 45 degrees from Polaris.
C) the axis is pointed towards Vega.
D) the axis is pointed straight up.
E) the axis is pointed towards the Sun.
25. Why have more people seen an eclipse of the Moon than an eclipse of the Sun?
_____
A) Eclipses of the Sun are much rarer than eclipses of the Moon.
B) The shadow of the Moon is smaller than the shadow of the Earth.
C) Anyone on the night side of Earth can see a total eclipse of the Moon.
D) Anyone on the day side of Earth can see a total solar eclipse.
E) B and C
26. According to Kepler's 3rd Law, which of these planets takes the longest to go around the Sun?____
A) Neptune
B) Mercury
C) Saturn
D) Jupiter
E) Mars
27. Which of the following did Galileo NOT do?
_____
A) discover the moons of Jupiter
B) invent the telescope
C) observe Sun spots
D) test Aristotelian physics
E) observe mountains and craters on the Moon
28. The force of the Sun's gravity on the Earth is:
_____
A) the cause of Earthquakes
B) greater than the force of the Earth's gravity on the Sun
C) negligible during Spring Equinoxes
D) equal to the force of the Earth's gravity on the Sun
E) decreasing over time, causing Earth's rotation to slow
29. The Earth:
_____
A) has greatest potential energy and smallest kinetic energy at aphelion
B) has smallest potential energy and greatest kinetic energy at aphelion
C) has smallest potential energy and smallest kinetic energy at perihelion
D) has greatest potential energy and smallest kinetic energy at perihelion
E) has no change in potential or kinetic energy throughout it's orbit
30. Radio waves are:
_____
A) a sound
B) a high frequency light
C) faster than visible light
D) a low frequency light
E) slower than visible light
31. If a planet has few impact craters of any size then
_____
A) the craters were eroded or erased by geological processes
B) its atmosphere stopped some impactors from reaching the surface
C) it was never hit by any impactors
D) the surface of the planet was too solid to make any craters
E) A and/or B
32. Earth has free oxygen in its atmosphere because
A) volcanoes out-gas free oxygen
B) the greenhouse effect
C) UV light makes ozone
D) photosynthesis
E) global warming
_____
33. How old is the solar system?
_____
A) As old as the Universe
B) Older than the Sun
C) 4.5 billion years
D) 4.5 trillion years
E) impossible to tell
34. Why is Io more volcanically active than our own Moon?
_____
A) Io is larger than our Moon.
B) Io is tidally heated by Jupiter.
C) Io has more radioactive metals
D) Our own Moon was cooled by impacting the Earth
E) Io isn't volcanically active.
35. What causes Neptune and Uranus to be blue?
A) their vast oceans
B) they emit blue light
C) methane in their atmospheres absorb red light
D) their methane clouds reflect light
E) C and D
_____
Short Answer (pick 3)
Draw the two main types of telescopes and label them and their parts. Be sure to include sample light
rays.
Describe Kepler's 3 laws and what they mean.
What is retrograde motion? Explain the how Geocentric and Heliocentric theories accounted for
retrograde motion. Draw pictures!
Explain the important differences in Venus and Earth's atmospheres. Why are there differences if Venus
and Earth are similar in size and have out-gassed similar amounts of volatiles?
Provide and explain 4 pieces of evidence that the Earth is round and moving. (The 4 pieces can be for
roundness or moving or both)
Explain what features of our solar system the Nebular Theory can account for and how.