Download Summary of Class Questions

GSCI 1010 CLASS QUESTIONS
CLASSICAL PHYSICS
1. Would time exist if there were no recurring events or changes of any kind with which to
measure it?
2. If another civilization existed which had a different system for measuring time, would there be a
mathematical method of determining the difference, and comparing it to our own measure of
time?
3. Who determined that there would be 12 months in a year and 7 days in a week? How did this
come to be and what proof showed it was accurate?
4. What are speed and velocity? How do they differ?
5. How do we measure speed?
6. What are Newton’s Laws?
7. How do hockey skates work?
8. If everyone in the world started walking at the same time in the opposite direction that the Earth
spins, how significant would the change in the Earth’s rotation speed be? (asked twice)
9. Why do we seem to hold an umbrella slightly in front of or behind us, rather than directly
overhead?
10. What type of energy is required to run a roller coaster?
11. Do you burn more calories when you think hard?
12. Why does a golf ball leave the head of a golf club faster than the head of the golf club was
moving when it struck the ball?
13. How do objects float in floods?
14. How do (fixed wing) airplanes maintain flight, especially at great heights?
15. Do the laws of physics really suggest that bees shouldn’t be able to fly? And if so, how can
they?
GRAVITY & GENERAL RELATIVITY
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Is gravity explainable? How does it exist and work?
Why does gravity stay constant (at or near the Earth’s surface)?
Why does gravity work within the Earth’s atmosphere, but not outside it?
Why do astronauts who spend long periods in space experience significant losses in bone
density?
Why is there “less gravity” on the Moon than on Earth?
If you throw a ball on the Moon, would it land or keep moving indefinitely?
What causes low and high tides?
Does the Earth always spin at the same speed?
How can Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity be summarized in laymen’s terms?
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ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
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What is at the edge of Space? What comes after this edge?
What’s after “space”?
Is there a beginning or an end to the Universe, or is it just time?
How old is the Universe? Where did it come from?
How does science account for the apparent absence of “time” prior to the Big Bang?
What is the “Big Bang Theory”?
How has the universe evolved over time? What proof do we have that these findings are correct
and accurate?
8. How do we know that the Universe is expanding, and what formula or theory proves this?
9. What are the differences between the Universe, our galaxy and our solar system?
10. How doe we know what our galaxy and other galaxies look like? And how do we know how
many galaxies there are?
11. What exactly are stars?
12. How long does it take for a star to be created and what process does it endure until it is formed?
13. How is a star born or created?
14. Why aren’t all stars as bright and hot as the Sun?
15. What is the difference between a planet and a star?
16. How are black holes created?
17. When black holes are created, where does everything go?
18. How did the Earth form?
19. How was the age of the Earth (and the rest of the Solar System) determined?
20. What equations were used to determine the orbits of outer planets such as Neptune and Pluto?
21. Why is Pluto no longer a planet?
22. Why do planets revolve around their suns (i.e. around stars)? What force causes this to happen?
23. How does the Earth stay in the Universe? Why don’t the planets “fall” and where would they
fall?
24. What is the speed at which planets move? How does this affect Earth’s gravity?
25. Why do we have different seasons (in some parts of the world)?
26. In theory, could a person stand on the surface of planet Jupiter? Or would gravity suck you into
the core until you were crushed?
27. Could animal life survive on Mars?
28. Why is it now more conceivable for humans to live on Mars?
29. Is “planetary line-up” (planetary alignment) fact or myth, and if fact, how often does it happen
and why?
30. What are “shooting stars”?
31. How did Aristarchus come to believe in a heliocentric model, where Earth and the other planets
revolve around the Sun?
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ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR STRUCTURE, MATTER & CHEMISTRY
1. What is electromagnetic force? Why is it important?
2. How does an atomic clock work?
3. What is antimatter and how is it created?
4. Is there a boundary beyond which matter cannot become smaller?
5. How was the periodic table of the elements developed, and who invented it? (asked twice)
6. If the world is made up of solids, liquids and gases, what is fire?
7. Why is a spray of water effective in putting out most fires?
8. What makes some substances more or less flammable than others?
9. How does sublimation work? How can a solid turn to a gas without ever entering a liquid state?
10. Why does water expand when it freezes?
11. With all the snow that falls in the world, is it really true that no two snowflakes are identical? If
so, how is this possible, and how can it be proved?
12. Why do we add salt when we are boiling water, and what is the effect of this?
13. Why don’t fizzy drinks fizz over (as much) when you pour them into a tilted glass?
14. What chemical(s) in cosmetics (.i.e. make-up) make them waterproof?
15. What is biochemistry and what is it used for?
NUCLEAR PHYSICS & QUANTUM THEORY
1. How can something so small like a stick of dynamite create an explosion so big? How was the
atomic bomb made, and why was its explosion so much bigger and more deadly?
2. If an atomic bomb’s force is based on splitting atoms in a catastrophic chain reaction, why
wouldn’t that process continue until the Earth was destroyed entirely? Can humankind control
this process and harness the nearly perfect reaction as an energy source?
3. How can alpha, beta and gamma radiation be distinguished from each other?
4. How do proton accelerators work? What force causes protons to travel at such high speeds, and
why is this useful?
5. What is the main purpose of the Hadron Collider and how does it work?
6. What are the technical obstacles to be overcome in the quest for practical fusion energy?
7. What is “Quantum Physics”, or the “Quantum Theory”? (asked twice)
8. What is a quantum of energy, and how is it measured?
MECHANICAL WAVES & SOUND
1. Why can’t sound travel in a vacuum?
2. How can sound waves pass through some objects and not others? How can a room be
“soundproofed”?
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ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES & OPTICS
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How can light behave like a particle sometimes, and like a wave at other times?
How does light travel?
Is there an equation for the speed of light? Is light measurable?
Does light always travel at the same speed?
Is there a difference in the waves of neon light, halogen light, fluorescent light, incandescent
light? What are the differences?
6. Who first discovered how colour is seen, and what is the process?
7. How is a radio broadcast converted to radio waves, which can then be received by radios at a
great distance?
8. How are the positions of planes determined? How does this use physics?
ELECTRICITY & MAGNETISM
1. If a strong electric field exists at a certain point in space, how do you test for its existence?
2. Why do magnets attract or repel each other?
3. What role does (electro-)magnetism play in the formation of images on the screen of a
television picture tube or computer monitor?
4. What is the cause of a rolling blackout, and why to they occur?
EARTH STUDIES & METEOROLOGY
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Why is the ocean salty?
How are the “Northern Lights” formed?
Why do “auroras” only occur in certain places?
What causes volcanoes to erupt?
Is there any way to predict how the Earth’s continents will shift in the future?
Why did the Earth’s plates move, causing the continents to separate?
What causes a tsunami (i.e. tidal wave)?
Where does oxygen come from?
What makes rivers, lakes, oceans change water level from high to low? What role does the Sun
play in this?
10. Is global warming a paradox?
11. What is lightning?
12. What causes extreme weather (e.g. a tornado) to form so fast?
13. How are tornados and hurricanes formed? What drives them?
14. If there was no friction on the Earth, would the planet simply disintegrate?
15. How soon is the Earth going to end, under what circumstances and why?
16. What causes the orange appearance of a “Harvest Moon”?
17. Why do we change our clocks twice a year? Is it because the Earth’s elliptical orbit causes it to
change speed?
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MISCELLANEOUS
1. What was meant by “intelligent life” in 2,000,000 BC, when communication through
pictographs didn’t begin until 30,000 BC?
2. Is there any relationship between the discovery of fire and the beginning of religious beliefs?
3. How were early techniques of metallurgy improved on to make the fires hot enough to create
metals like iron and alloys like steel?
4. Ancient scientists and scholars in Greece, Rome, the Near East and Far East laid the foundation
for the scientific revolution in Europe, but did they also develop mechanical technology and
apply science for practical things?
5. Why are footballs shaped the way they are? Why is it the only ball shaped that way if they are
all meant for throwing?
6. When it’s raining, do you get more wet if you walk or run?
7. What makes a cell phone vibrate?
8. How does the colour of a “mood ring” change?
9. How are computers able to do so much (so fast) using microchips and wires?
10. What is the internet and how does it work?
11. Why do scientists assume that life cannot exist on planets that don’t have atmospheres similar
to ours? Isn’t it possible that our atmosphere would be hostile to beings that developed in a
different atmosphere, just as their atmosphere would be hostile to us?
“QUESTIONABLE” QUESTIONS
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What is the difference between meteorology and astronomy?
How can people cope living between earth years and light years?
What is the function of the “Zodiac” and how did it come to be? (asked twice)
Is there any scientific fact behind horoscopes?
Could astronauts ever travel through space without an oxygen supply?
If man really did evolve from apes, why is man not still evolving from apes now?
Theoretically or physically speaking, could a severed head be kept “alive” for a substantial
length of time (using non-living materials), so it could eat, talk, see and hear?
8. What hit the Pentagon if no plane was found? How did the World Trade Center tower fall if it
wasn’t hit by a plane?
9. How do fractals work?
10. Explain chaos theory? How is a pool game considered to be part of chaos theory?
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