Download Planetary Orbit Simulator – Pretest

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Planetary Orbit Simulator – Questions
BIN 1: General overview
Question 1: Which of the following is not part of Kepler's contribution to planetary
orbits?
a) shapes of the orbit
b) speeds of planets in their orbit
c) orbital period
d) gravity
BIN 2: Components of an Ellipse
Question 2: Rank the following 4 ellipses below in order of increasing ellipticity.
a) A, B, C, D
b) B, A, D, C
c) C, D, B, A
d) D, C, B, A
Question 3: In the figure above, which letter corresponds to the [distance from focus to
center/semimajor axis/semiminor axis]?
a) X
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b) Y
c) Z
Question 4: Which point or points in the figure above is a focus of the ellipse?
a) A, E
b) C
c) B, D
d) B, C, D
e) A, C, E
BIN 3: Planetary orbit’s are ellipses, sun/star is located at one focus of the
orbit’s ellipse
Question 5: Which of the following look most like the orbit of
[Mercury/Venus/Earth/Pluto]?
c)
a)
d)
b)
Question 6: The center of [PLANET]'s orbit is
a) exactly at the center of the sun.
b) close to the sun[‘s center].
c) half-way between the sun and the planet.
d) close to the planet.
Question 7: In an orbit, the planet is almost always
a) moving directly away from the sun.
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b) moving directly towards the sun.
c) neither moving away nor towards the sun.
d) moving in a random direction.
BIN 4: Orbital Speeds vary with time or place in the orbit
Question 8: At which point or points is the planet slowing down? (planets shown here are
assumed to be orbiting counter-clockwise)
a) A, E
b) B,C,D
c) D
d) A, B, C, D, E
e) none of the points (the planet is moving at constant speed)
Question 9: The speed of a planet in orbit is
a) constant.
b) always speeding up, but barely noticeable.
c) always slowing down, but barely noticeable.
d) sometimes speeding up and sometimes slowing down.
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BIN 5: Connect variation of orbital speed with 2nd Law
Question 10: The areas in regions A and B are equal in size. Which of the following
statements are true?
a) The orbital path length subtended by region A is longer than that given by region
B. Therefore it will take the planet longer to move through region A.
b) The planet will cover the distances subtended by regions A and B in equal
amounts of time because the planet moves faster through region A than region B.
c) The planet will take longer to move through region B because it is moving slower
in region B than it is in region A.
Question 11: With respect to the figure above, which of the following statements is true?
a) The planet will cover regions A and B is the same amount of time because of
Kepler’s 2nd Law.
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b) The planet will cover region A in a faster amount of time than region B, because
A has less area.
c) The planet will take longer to move through region A because it is moving slower
in region A than it is in region B.
BIN 6: Meaning of Kepler’s 3rd Law
Question 12: If a planet has an orbital radius four times earth's, what will its period be?
a) half as large
b) the same
c) four times as much
d) eight times as much
e) none of the above
Question 13: If a planet's orbital period is twice the earth's orbital period, what will its
average orbital radius be?
a) half as large.
b) the same.
c) four times as much.
d) eight times as much.
e) none of the above.
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Question 14: Using the graph, a planet with a semimajor axis of 10 will have an orbital
period of about
a) 4.6 years
b) 10 years
c) 32 years
d) 100 years
Question 15: Using the graph, a planet with a period of 10 years will have semimajor axis
of about
a) 1 year
b) 4.6 years
c) 10 years
d) 32 years
Bin 7: Orbital period is independent of eccentricity
Question 16: The orbital period of [SUPERIOR PLANET] is
a) longer than earth's orbital period because it is farther from the sun.
b) shorter than earth's orbital period because it is farther from the sun.
c) longer than the earth's orbital period because its orbit is less circular.
d) short than the earth's orbital period because its orbit is more circular.
Question 17: Which of the following significantly influence the orbital period of a
planet?
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a) the shape of the planet's orbit (for a given average distance)
b) the average distance of the planet from the sun
c) both of the above
d) neither of the above
Question 18: Which of the orbital distances below correspond to an eccentricity of 0.1?
a) 0.5 AU
b) 1 AU
c) 4 AU
d) 13.6 AU
e) all of the choices are physically possible
Bin 8: Planets are under constant acceleration, Acceleration force is
directed towards the sun
Question 19: Planets orbit the sun because
a) magnetic fields alternate pulling and pushing the planets.
b) the solar wind balances the inward pull of gravity.
c) a planet's velocity is constantly redirected by the sun's gravitational pull.
d) planets naturally move in circles.
Question 20: The acceleration of a planet is
a) directly opposite the planet's motion if it is slowing down.
b) in the same direction of the planet's motion if it is speeding up.
c) always towards the sun.
d) always away from the sun.
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Question 21: If the arrows depicted in the picture represent acceleration, which planet or
planets
is
shown
correctly?
(Planets
can
be
orbiting either
clockwise
or
counterclockwise.)
a) A
b) C
c) D
d) B, E
e) A, C
BIN 9: Velocity is tangent to the orbital path
Question 22: If the arrows depicted in the picture represent velocity, which planet or
planets
is
shown
correctly?
(Planets
can
be
orbiting either
clockwise
or
counterclockwise.)
a) A
b) C
c) D
d) B, E
BIN 10: Advanced questions
Question 23: If a planet has a semimajor axis of 4 and an eccentricity of 0.2, how far is
the planet at [aphelion/perihelion]?
a) 0.8
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b) 3.2
c) 3.8
d) 4.2
e) 4.8
f) 20
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