Download Review Sheet - University of Mount Union

PH 120 Review Questions - Exam #1 (Spring 2005)
This is not meant to be an exhaustive set of questions. There may be questions/topics
not listed here. The main topics include:
the scientific method, the sky (celestial
sphere, phases, eclipses, motions, constellations, the seasons), geocentric vs. heliocentric
models, light & atoms
1. What is at the zenith for someone at Earth's north pole? At the equator?
2. Give two reasons why summer is warmer than winter. How would the seasons be
different if the Earth were tilted 40 degrees?
3. Describe the location of Polaris in the sky as seen by observers in Alaska, Texas,
Ecuador and Australia.
4. Why do we see different constellations during different seasons?
5. What is a circumpolar star?
6. How did Eratosthenes determine the size of Earth? Why did the ancient Greeks
believe it was a sphere?
7. Name the phases of the Moon. When does a last quarter moon set?
8. If we see a full moon in Alliance, what phase do they see on the same day in
Australia?
9. How long is it between first quarter moon and full moon?
10. What's the difference between a total and annular solar eclipse? Total and partial
solar eclipse?
11. What happens during a lunar eclipse?
12. Why don't eclipses occur every month?
13. Why did Aristotle believe the Earth is motionless?
14. What is retrograde motion? How did Ptolemy and Copernicus each try to explain it?
15. What are Kepler's laws?
16. How did Tycho's supernova & comet contribute to the changing of ideas about the
heavens?
17. Why were Galileo's observations so important? What did he observe?
18. What motion do we use to measure a day? A month? A year?
19. If you were on the Moon during a new moon, in what phase would you see the
Earth?
20. What is the meridian?
21. What are two main differences between x--rays and visible light?
22. What makes up an atom? How does an atom emit or absorb light? What
distinguishes one element from another element?
23. How can the color of a star tell us its temperature?
24. What is the conservation of angular momentum? Describe it with an example.
21. Be able to identify Polaris, Orion, and the constellations we have discussed.
22. What are the steps of the scientific method? What is induction? Deduction?
23. How is an AU defined? How is a light year defined?
24. What are the 3 types of spectra? What does each look like? How are they produced?
25. Why do different elements have different spectral lines?
26. Jupiter is 5.2 AU from the Sun on average. How long does it take to revolve around
the Sun? Neptune takes 164.8 years to orbit the Sun; how far away is it?
27. Suppose NASA sent a box that weighed 100 pounds on Earth to Planet X. Planet X
has 4 times the mass of Earth and has 2 times the radius of Earth. How much does
the box weigh when it gets to Planet X?
28. Given that 1 mile = 1.6 km, convert 0.02 km/sec into miles/hour.
29. How long does sunlight take to reach Earth?
30. If the diameter of Jupiter is 142,984 km, how far apart are the two dark bands?