Download Chapter 7: Our Planetary System Chapter 8: Formation of the Solar

PHYS-1000
Midterm 2 Study Guide
Fall 2012
This study guide is for the second midterm of the semester, covering chapters 7 through 10. You
are responsible for all material in these chapters as well as the corresponding material listed on the
course website. Of this material, it is most important that you understand and can answer the
following questions.
Chapter 7: Our Planetary System
What does the solar system look like?
What are the general characteristics of the various bodies in the solar system?
What can we learn by comparing the planets to one another?
What features of our solar system provide clues to how it formed?
What is Mike Brown’s argument against Pluto and Eris being classified as planets?
What are the different types of robotic missions to space?
Unit conversion as done in the “Scales of the Solar System” lab.
Chapter 8: Formation of the Solar System
What properties of our solar system must a formation theory explain?
What theory best explains the features of our solar system?
Where did the solar system come from?
What caused the orderly patterns of motion in our solar system?
Why are there two major types of planets?
How did the terrestrial planets form?
How did the jovian planets form?
What ended the era of planet formation?
Where did asteroids and comets come from?
How do we explain “exceptions to the rules?”
How do we explain the existence of our Moon?
Was our solar system destined to be?
How does radioactivity reveal an object’s age?
When did the planets form?
Chapter 9: Planetary Geology
What are terrestrial planets like on the inside?
What causes geological activity?
Why do some planetary interiors create magnetic fields?
What processes shape planetary surfaces?
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PHYS-1000
Midterm 2 Study Guide
How do impact craters reveal a surface’s geological age?
Why do the terrestrial planets have different geological histories?
What geological processes shaped our Moon?
What geological processes shaped Mercury?
What are the major geological features of Mars?
What geological evidence tells us that water once flowed on Mars?
What are the major geological features of Venus?
Does Venus have plate tectonics?
How do we know that Earth’s surface is in motion?
How is Earth’s surface shaped by plate tectonics?
Was Earth’s geology destined from birth?
What method do astronomers use to determine the age of a body’s surface?
Chapter 10: Planetary Atmospheres
What is an atmosphere?
How does the greenhouse effect warm a planet?
Why do atmospheric properties vary with altitude?
What creates wind and weather?
What is the Coriolis Effect?
What factors can cause long-term climate change?
How does a planet gain or lose atmospheric gases?
Do the Moon and Mercury have any atmospheres?
What is Mars like today?
Why did Mars change?
What is Venus like today?
How did Venus get so hot?
How did Earth’s atmosphere end up so different?
Why does Earth’s climate stay relatively stable?
How does the Earth’s CO2 cycle work?
How is human activity changing our planet?
How does Earth’s orbit and tilt vary over time?
What causes the Milankovitch cycles?
What effect might sunspots have on Earth’s climate?
What evidence from fossils are used in paleo-climate research?
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Fall 2012