Download ES 104 Midterm Exam Study Guide 1

ES 104 Midterm Exam Study Guide 1
Also be sure to look over the clicker question quizzes and in class
activity worksheets.
Lectures 1and 2:
Earth system science concepts
Be familiar with the following scientific terms: hypothesis, fact, law, and theory.
Be familiar with the scientific method.
Classical astronomy concepts
Know that the ancient Greek astronomers knew that the Earth was round and that
they believed the Earth to be the center of all motion (The Ptolemaic System)
Be familiar with the following Greek Astronomer’s contributions to astronomy:
Aristarchus
Eratosthenes
Hipparchus
Ptolemy
Be familiar with the Ptolemaic model for the solar system and how it differs from
the Copernican model for the solar system.
Be familiar with the following individuals and their contributions to astronomy:
Copernicus
Kepler
Galileo
Newton
Know Kepler’s 3 laws of planetary motion.
Know what an Astronomical Unit (AU) is.
Be familiar with Galileo’s discoveries.
Be familiar with Newton’s law of gravitation.
Know what Inertia is.
Know that orbits result from a combination of inertia and gravitational attraction.
Lectures 3 and 4:
The Solar System
Know how the craters and the maria on Earth’s moon were formed.
Jovian planets versus the Terrestrial planets – be familiar with the physical and
compositional differences between these 2 categories of planets – look over the
table that you completed for the first homework activity.
Also know why the Jovian planets have thicker atmospheres than the terrestrial
planets and why some bodies such as Earth’s moon lack an atmosphere.
Know how the orbital spacing of the planets changes with distance from the Sun.
Be familiar with the general physical characteristics, compositions, and
surface geology of each of the terrestrial planets (besides the Earth):
Examples of what to know:
What is the evidence for liquid water on Mars?
Why is Venus the hottest planet?
Venus rotates in the opposite direction compared to other planets.
Which planets have volcanoes?
Why does Mars no longer have liquid water on its surface?
Mercury’s ancient, cratered surface.
Both Mercury and Venus rotate very slowly.
What is the surface of Venus like?
Know that heavily cratered surfaces on planets or moons represent
geologically ancient surfaces that have experienced no recent
volcanic activity, erosion, or deposition of new rocks.
Be familiar with the general physical characteristics and compositions of
each of the Jovian Planets:
Examples of what to know:
What is Jupiter’s Great Red Spot?
What are the rings of Saturn composed of?
What are the dominant elements in atmospheres of Jovian planets?
Why are Uranus and Neptune blue?
Uranus rotates “on its side”.
Jovian planets give off more heat than they receive from the Sun.
Be familiar with the following moons: Io, Europa, Titan, and Enceladus.
Examples of what to know:
What is Titan’s atmosphere made of?
Titan is the only moon with a thick atmosphere.
Titan has liquid methane on its surface.
Io is the most volcanically active of solar system bodies.
What is giving Io its high internal heat that results in volcanism?
Why do Europa and Enceladus have very few impact craters in
many areas?
What is Cryovolcanism?
Europa and Enceladus both have subsurface oceans.
Know the difference between the dwarf planets and the 8 official planets.
Know that Pluto is classified as a dwarf planet and that it is an object in the
Kuiper Belt.
Know that there are other dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt.
Where is the Kuiper Belt and what is it made of?
Where is the Asteroid Belt?
Know that the dwarf planet, Ceres is located in the asteroid belt.
Know what comets and asteroids are and what they are composed of.
Know what forms the tail of a comet.
Be familiar with the widely accepted hypothesis for the origins of the Solar
System.
Lecture 4:
The physics of light
Know that light is a type of electromagnetic radiation and that the different types
of electromagnetic radiation are determined by different wavelengths.
Know that different colors in the light spectrum are associated with different
wavelengths (violet = short, red = long).
Know that shorter wavelength electromagnetic radiation corresponds with greater
energy sources (higher temperatures).
Know that stars like the Sun emit a dark-line spectrum.
Know that Cecelia Payne was the first astronomer to accurately determine the
compositions of stars.
Know that the composition of stars can be determined by analyzing the spectra of
the light that they emit.
The Sun
Know that the Sun is an average-sized yellow star.
Know that the Sun is composed primarily of incandescent gases or plasma.
Be familiar with the following parts of the Sun: photosphere, chromosphere, and
corona.
Know that the 2 most abundant elements in the Sun are H and He.
Know the source of the Sun’s energy – nuclear fusion reactions in the Sun’s core
where H nuclei are combined to form He nuclei.
The stars and interstellar matter
Know what a light year is and that it is used in describing stellar distances.
Know that the brightness of a star is affected by its temperature and size.
Know how a star’s color can indicate its relative temperature (hot vs. cool stars).
Know that many stars occur in binary or multiple star systems.
Be sure to look over the Hertzsprung-Russel (HR) diagram which shows relations
between stellar temperature, brightness and color.
Know that most stars including the Sun are main sequence stars.
Know what red giants and white dwarfs are.
Know the 3 types of nebulae.
The life cycles of stars:
Know where stars are formed.
Know that the balance of gas pressure and gravity keeps a star stable.
Know what will happen to the Sun when it reaches the end of its life cycle.
Know what happens to more massive stars at the end of their life cycles.
Know that more massive stars tend to burn hotter and faster resulting in a
shorter life-span.
Know that neutron stars and black holes are formed when massive stars
implode during a supernova.
Lecture 5:
The Milky Way Galaxy and the Universe
Be familiar with the general structure of the Milky Way galaxy and where we are
located in it.
Know that the Milky Way contains at least 200 billion stars and is about 100,000
light-years across.
Know that the Milky Way is just one of billions of galaxies.
Know what the Big Bang Theory states about the early formation of the universe
and what evidence supports this model of the universe.
Know that the universe is expanding.