Deck 22: Venus and Mars

Question 1

Measurements of the magnetic field of Venus reveal that the

A) planet has a large iron core.
B) interior of the planet is molten.
C) planet has no detectable magnetic field.
D) planet rotates backwards.
E) magnetic field is responsible for large auroral displays (northern lights)on Venus.

Answer 1

planet has no detectable magnetic field.

Question 2

How rapidly a planet loses its atmosphere depends on the planet's:

A) I & II
B) III & IV
C) I,II,& III
D) II,III,& IV
E) I,II,III,& IV

Answer 2

I,II,& III

Question 3

Venus has a radius of approximately 6,100 km and a mass of 4.9*10²⁴ kg.What is the escape velocity of Venus?

A) 330,000 km/sec
B) 10 km/sec
C) 6 km/sec
D) 33 km/sec
E) 10,000 km/sec

Answer 3

10 km/sec

Question 4

The graph below plots the escape velocity of each planet along the vertical axis,and its surface temperature along the horizontal.The lines plotted in the figure are the average speeds of gas particles as a function of temperature for various gases.Which gas(es)plotted in the diagram could be retained in the atmosphere of Mars?

A) only CO₂
B) only NH₃
C) CO₂,NH₃,and O₂
D) only H₂
E) H₂ and He

Question 5

Coronae on Venus are believed to be

A) impact craters.
B) caused by rising convection currents in the interior of Venus.
C) the result of plate tectonics.
D) located only in the polar regions of Venus.
E) much older than the highlands such as Ishtar Terra.

Question 6

In contrast to Earth,reasons oxygen does not exist in any quantity in the Martian atmosphere could be because

A) there were never plants to convert carbon dioxide to oxygen like on Earth.
B) most of the oxygen is chemically combined with iron giving Mars its red color.
C) the element oxygen is not found alone or combined chemically with hydrogen on Mars.
D) both answers b and c
E) both answers a and b

Question 7

The geology of Venus appears to be dominated by

A) volcanism.
B) plate tectonics.
C) erosion by flowing water.
D) impact cratering.
E) strip mining.

Question 8

Which of the following are not found on Venus?

A) arachnoids
B) coronae
C) rolling plains
D) lobate scarps
E) high atmospheric pressure

Question 9

One hypothesis suggested the explanation of the uniform age of the surface of Venus is that

A) Venus' surface is 4 billion years old and has not been affected by flooding or slow evolution.
B) Venus' surface is made of rocks that are much harder than Earth's and thus last longer.
C) Venus' surface periodically goes through a catastrophic melting of the entire surface.
D) Venus' clouds protect it from meteorites so that very few impacts occur to change its surface.
E) dust storms deposit large amounts of dust on the surface making it appear of uniform age.

Question 10

Major factors causing the Martian atmosphere to be different from the Earth are

A) its greater distance from the sun.
B) its smaller mass than the Earth.
C) transport of water from the poles to the equator in the Martians' canals.
D) both answers b and c
E) both answers a and b

Question 11

The greenhouse effect keeps Venus hot because

A) the atmosphere contains free oxygen.
B) the atmosphere is rich in carbon dioxide.
C) the surface converts infrared into visible radiation.
D) the surface is free of sulfur compounds.
E) the magnetic field traps a large number of particles from the solar wind.

Question 12

In contrast to Earth,on Venus ____ the carbon dioxide that was out gassed from the planet via volcanoes.

A) there was no removal of
B) there was little removal via rain and surface reaction with rocks of
C) there was total removal via freezing of
D) all of the above

Question 13

The surface of Venus has been studied

A) using radar maps made from Earth.
B) using radar maps made from satellites orbiting Venus.
C) using spacecraft that have landed on the surface of Venus.
D) all of the above
E) only b and c

Question 14

The Martian meteorites and NASA rovers indicate that,similar to Earth,on Mars some or most of the gases via volcanoes could have become bound up in ____.

A) igneous granite
B) sedimentary rocks
C) igneous basalt
D) all of the above

Question 15

Which solar system object listed below is most similar to Earth in terms of mass and density?

A) Mercury
B) Moon
C) Venus
D) Mars
E) Deimos

Question 16

Which surface feature is found on Earth but not on Venus?

A) craters
B) volcanoes
C) liquid water oceans
D) All of these are found on Venus and Earth.

Question 17

The chemically inert gas argon's abundance in the Martian atmosphere indicates that in the past the early atmosphere (of other gases)was ____ the atmosphere today.

A) 100 times
B) equal to
C) 1/10
D) 1/100

Question 18

In contrast to Venus,Earth has an atmosphere ____ the carbon dioxide that was outgassed from the planet via volcanoes.

A) which contains almost all
B) which contains almost none of
C) which lost into space
D) all of the above

Question 19

Most terrestrial planets have portions of their surface that appear to be significantly older than other portions of their surface.What evidence suggests that all of the surface of Venus is the same age?

A) Photos taken by probes that landed on Venus showed that all of the rocks were of the same age.
B) The craters on Venus are randomly distributed in size and number across the surface.
C) The volcanoes on Venus are not found in isolated groups but are scattered around the planet.
D) a and b
E) all of the above

Question 20

The graph below plots the escape velocity of each planet along the vertical axis and its surface temperature along the horizontal.The lines plotted in the figure are the average speeds of gas particles as a function of temperature for various gases.Which planet plotted in this diagram has the second greatest escape velocity?

A) Mars
B) Moon
C) Mercury
D) Earth
E) Venus

Question 21

The extreme size of volcanoes on Mars indicate that

A) Mars has a much thicker crust than Earth.
B) water once flowed in streams on Mars.
C) large moving plates have not formed on Mars.
D) a and c
E) a,b,and c

Question 22

What do astronomers generally believe about the origin of Mars' moons?

A) They formed with the planet out of the protoplanetary material.
B) They formed elsewhere and were captured at a later time.
C) They were ejected from Mars during its formation.
D) They were once a single moon and a later catastrophic event broke them in two.

Question 23

The crust of Mars is believed to ____ Earth's.

A) be much thinner than
B) be younger than
C) contain more water than
D) be more geologically active than
E) none of the above

Question 24

Long,deep valleys resembling rift valleys have been found on

A) Venus and Mars.
B) Mercury and Mars.
C) Mercury and Venus.
D) Mars and the moon.
E) Venus and the moon

Question 25

The escape velocity of Mars is ____ that of the Earth.

A) less than
B) greater than
C) equal to

Question 26

What observational technique allows astronomers to determine that Venus is rotating backwards?

A) Mapping rotational patterns in Venus' cloud formations.
B) Doppler shift of radio signals bounced off Venus' equatorial regions.
C) Doppler shift of radio signals bounced off Venus' polar regions.
D) Mapping heat signatures on Venus's surface at different latitudes.

Question 27

The canals of Mars were found to be

A) irrigation ditches dug by Martians.
B) faults in the Martian crust.
C) straight mountain ranges.
D) sinuous rilles.
E) an optical illusion.

Question 28

The greenhouse effect produces excess heat in a planet's atmosphere by

A) trapping infrared radiation from escaping into space.
B) clouds blocking the surface from receiving any infrared radiation.
C) trapping light gases from escaping into space.
D) trapping ultraviolet light in the upper atmosphere of the planet.

Question 29

The largest satellite orbiting a terrestrial planet is ____.

A) Earth's moon
B) Mars' moon Phobos
C) Venus' moon Bardot

Question 30

Olympus Mons is 600 km in diameter at its base.At its closest to Earth,Mars is 7.8*10⁷ km away.What is the angular diameter of Olympus Mons for an observer on Earth?

A) 1.6 seconds of arc
B) 7.7*10^-6 seconds of arc
C) 1.3*10^-5 seconds of arc
D) 0.63 seconds of arc
E) 8 seconds of arc

Question 31

The atmosphere of Mars is so thin that water (H₂O)can only exist on its surface as a

A) liquid.
B) solid (ice).
C) vapor.
D) both answers b and c
E) both answers a and b

Question 32

Why does Mars have seasons similar to the Earth?

A) Mars is roughly the same distance from the sun as Earth.
B) Mars has the same orbital inclination as the Earth.
C) The shape of Mars' orbit is the same as the Earth's.
D) Mars' rotational axis is tilted like the Earth's.

Question 33

Phobos

A) orbits Venus in a retrograde direction.
B) contains evidence of past volcanic activity on its surface.
C) always remains hidden behind Mars for observers on Earth.
D) has a very bright surface composed of frozen carbon dioxide.
E) orbits Mars faster than Mars rotates on its axis.

Question 34

The moons of Mars are believed to be

A) composed primarily of iron and nickel.
B) composed primarily of frozen gases of water and carbon dioxide.
C) orbiting Mars in a direction opposite to the direction that Mars rotates.
D) formed from material ejected from Olympus Mons and other large volcanoes on Mars.
E) captured asteroids.

Question 35

____ is a very long and deep canyon on Mars.

A) Valles Marineris
B) Ishtar Terra
C) Tharsis Bulge
D) Lobate Scarp
E) Phobos

Question 36

What physical property of Venus is vastly dissimilar compared to Earth?

A) Radius
B) Mass
C) Density
D) Surface temperature

Question 37

Mars is located 1.5 AU from the sun.What is its orbital period?

A) 1.3 years
B) 3.4 years
C) 1.8 years
D) 2.25 years
E) 11.4 years

Question 38

It is believed that the Martian crust is not divided into rapidly moving plates like on Earth because of

A) I & II
B) II & III
C) II,III,& IV
D) I,II,& III
E) I,II,III,& IV

Question 39

Mars has a sufficient mass and a low enough temperature that water molecules could exist in its atmosphere.Why doesn't Mars' atmosphere contain a significant amount of water?

A) Mars formed in a part of the solar nebula that lacked oxygen.
B) Mars formed in a part of the solar nebula that lacked hydrogen.
C) All of the water vapor was released in the impact that formed Deimos.
D) Ultraviolet radiation breaks the water molecule into less massive particles that can escape.
E) The water molecule combines readily with chlorine to form hydrochloric acid.

Question 40

The flow patterns found on the surface of Mars suggest

A) that Mars is a water-rich world.
B) that the climate on Mars was different in the past.
C) that volcanism is occurring on Mars.
D) that the polar caps are made of water.
E) all of the above

Question 41

The atmosphere of Venus is primarily _____.

A) helium
B) oxygen
C) nitrogen
D) carbon dioxide

Question 42

Outgassing produces gas rich in carbon dioxide,nitrogen,and water vapor.

Question 43

The absence of folded mountain ranges on Mars suggests that it has been subjected to plate tectonics.

Question 44

Unprotected by an __________ the water vapor in the atmosphere of Venus has been ________________.

A) ionosphere; broken into H and O by UV light
B) ionosphere; broken into C and O by UV light
C) carbon dioxide; broken into H and O by UV light

Question 45

Mars has a sufficient mass and a low enough temperature that water vapor molecules could exist in its atmosphere.Why doesn't Mars' atmosphere contain a significant amount of water vapor?

A) Mars formed in a part of the solar nebula that lacked oxygen.
B) Mars formed in a part of the solar nebula that lacked hydrogen.
C) Water only exists on Earth
D) Much water is frozen in the ice caps or below ground
E) Water is not found in our Solar System

Question 46

Flow channels on Venus suggest it was once rich in water.

Question 47

Valles Marineris is a long valley on Mars believed to resemble the rift valleys of eastern Africa.

Question 48

Venus is very hot because its atmosphere is rich in carbon dioxide.

Question 49

Astronomers on Earth are able to measure the rotation of Venus by using optical telescopes to watch surface markings as rotation carries them across the disk of Venus.

Question 50

The extreme size of volcanoes on Mars indicates that

A) Mars has a much thinner crust than Earth.
B) water once flowed in streams on Mars.
C) large horizontally moving crustal plates have not formed on Mars.
D) a and c
E) a,b,and c

Question 51

Venus is the planet closest to Earth in mass.

Question 52

Arachnoids on Venus were produced by major impacts as the planet formed.

Question 53

Radar maps of Venus show impact craters.

Question 54

The surface of Venus is hotter than the surface of Mercury.

Question 55

The atmosphere of Venus is about _________ the atmospheric pressure at the surface of Earth.Pick the best answer.

A) 0.01x
B) 1x
C) 100x
D) 1000x

Question 56

The size of Olympus Mons suggests that the crust of Mars is very thick.

Question 57

The atmosphere of Venus contains enough water vapor to make an ocean _________ deep.

A) one foot
B) 1000 feet
C) Wrong.Venus' atmosphere contains no water vapor at all

Question 58

The canals of Mars were eventually found to be crustal faults.

Question 59

The surface of Mars has a reddish color due to the presence of ____.

A) iron oxides in its soil
B) sulfur containing compounds in its soil
C) nitrogen in its atmosphere
D) active volcanoes depositing lava across the surface

Question 60

What is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere of Mars?

A) Molecular nitrogen (N₂)
B) Molecular oxygen (O₂)
C) Molecular hydrogen (H₂)
D) Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)

Question 61

____________________ volcanoes have shallow slopes and are associated with hot spots.These types of volcanoes have been seen on the surface of Venus.

Question 62

The atmosphere on Mars is so thin that it's not visible in photographs taken from the surface.

Question 63

The terrestrial planet with the most efficient greenhouse effect is ____________________.

Question 64

Besides Earth,which of the terrestrial planets and/or their satellites show(s)evidence for the possible existence of liquid water flowing on its surface in the past?

Question 65

The size of the volcanoes on Mars indicates that Mars has a ____________________ crust than Earth.

Question 66

The atmosphere of ____________________ contains acid compounds including sulfuric and hydrochloric acid.

Question 67

The terrestrial planet with the most moons is ____________________.

Question 68

The largest volcano found on one of the terrestrial planets is ____________________.