Download Cosmology Unit – FINAL EXAM PRACTICE TEST

Cosmology Unit – FINAL EXAM PRACTICE TEST – 26 questions
ANSWER KEY
1. In the raisin bread analogy for the universe, what represents interstellar space?
a) air
b) flour
c) dough
d) raisins
2. How can one explain the fact that nearly all other galaxies appear to be moving farther away from us?
a) The universe is expanding.
b) The apparent motion is just an optical illusion.
c) The solar system is at the center of the universe.
d) The Doppler effect is causing the distances to expand.
3. The expansion of the universe has also been compared to the inflation of a balloon. Suppose that before you inflate the
balloon, you draw dots on the surface of the balloon to represent different galaxies. After inflating the balloon, what
observation would you expect to make?
a. All of the dots should be equally far apart.
b. All of the dots should have clustered on one part of the balloon.
c. The distance between each dot should have increased by the same amount.
d. The distance between faraway dots should have increased more than the distance between nearby dots.
4. How can Edwin Hubble's discoveries be summarized?
a) The Milky Way is like a lump of expanding raisin bread.
b) The cosmic microwave background radiation is a remnant of the Big Bang.
c) There are galaxies outside our own Milky Way, and nearly all of them are getting farther away.
d) The steadystate theory is not a correct explanation for the continuing evolution of the universe.
5. What evidence supports the Big Bang Theory? Select all that apply.
a. the Hubble law
b. the cosmic redshift
c. the younger age of distant galaxies
d. the cosmic microwave background radiation
6. What does the word cosmic in the term cosmic microwavebackground radiation refer to?
a. a type of light
b. found in space
c. evidence for the Big Bang
d. exists everywhere we look
7. What occurred during nucleosynthesis?
a. the creation of atomic nuclei
b. the formation of galactic nuclei
c. the first nuclear reactions inside stars
d. the production of the cosmic microwave background radiation through nuclear fusion
8. The term Big Bang theory basically refers to what?
a. the explosion of protons and neutrons to create atoms
b. the collision of galaxies to form larger galactic structures
c. the sudden expansion of the universe from a hot, dense state
d. the continued evolution of the universe, ending with the Big Crunch
9. Nucleosynthesis began when _____ and ended when _____.
a. the Big Bang occurred; the Big Crunch occurred
b. nuclear reactions could first occur; matter had condensed into galaxies and stars
c. the cosmic microwave background radiation formed; dark energy replaced it as the dominant energy form
d. the universe had cooled enough for atoms to combine; protons and neutrons were too far apart to form
nuclei
10. According to the _____ law, a galaxy two times as far away from Earth as a second galaxy will be moving away
approximately twice as fast.
a. Sagan
b. Hubble
c. dark matter
d. cosmological
11. In the raisin bread analogy for the universe, what do the raisins represent?
a. stars
b. galaxies
c. black holes
d. interstellar space
12.The cosmic redshift is a form of _____.
a. galaxy contraction
b. the Doppler effect
c. the steady state theory
d. cosmic microwave background radiation
13. Whose discoveries can BEST be summarized by the following statement?: There are galaxies outside our own Milky
Way, and nearly all of them are getting farther away.
a. Kelvin's
b. Sagan's
c. Hubble's
d. Doppler's
14. Compared to a stationary galaxy, light from a galaxy that is moving away from Earth will appear _____.
a. bluer
b. redder
c. the same
15. The creation of atomic nuclei occurred during _____.
a. the Big Bang
b. the Big Crunch
c. nucleosynthesis
d. the period of cosmic microwave background radiation
16. At the time of the Big Bang, what was packed into a very small space?
a. atoms
b. matter
c. energy
d. galaxies
e. elements
17. When the early universe cooled enough for atoms to form, _____ began.
a. dark energy
b. the Big Bang
c. nucleosynthesis
d. the cosmic microwave background radiation
18. Compared to a stationary galaxy, light from a galaxy that is moving away from Earth will appear _____.
a. bluer
b. redder
c. the same
19. Galaxy A is located 200 million lightyears from Earth, while galaxy B is located 600 million lightyears from Earth.
According to the Hubble law, how does the motion of the two galaxies compare?
a. Galaxies A and B are moving away from Earth at the same rate.
b. Galaxy A is moving away from Earth three times as fast as galaxy B.
c. Galaxy B is moving away from Earth three times as fast as galaxy A.
20. According to the Hubble law, a galaxy twice as far from Earth will be moving away approximately _____.
a.
b.
c.
d.
half as fast
twice as fast
four times as fast
at the same speed
21. Galaxies are seen moving away from us because _____.
a. space itself is expanding
b. the universe is considered "open"
c. Earth is at the center of the universe
d. the cosmic microwave background radiation pushes them
22. Select all the true statements about the cosmic microwave background radiation.
a. It was discovered by Edwin Hubble.
b. It is found only in some sections of the universe.
c. It indicates that the universe was once very hot.
d. It can't be explained by the steady state theory.
e. It indicates that the universe has a temperature of around 3 K.
23. What does the term nucleosynthesis refer to?
a. the creation of atomic nuclei
b. the formation of galactic nuclei
c. the start of nuclear reactions inside stars
d. the production of dark energy through nuclear fusion
24. Compared to a stationary galaxy, light from a galaxy that is moving toward Earth will appear _____.
a. bluer
b. redder
c. the same
25. Galaxies that are closer to Earth appear to be _____ Earth.
a. older than
b. younger than
c. the same age as
26. According to the Hubble law, a galaxy that is four times as far from Earth will be moving away approximately _____.
a. a quarter as fast
b. twice as fast
c. four times as fast
d. at the same speed