Deck 7: Atmospheres of Venus, Earth, and Mars

Question 1

Examine the figure below.Over the past 50 years,the average temperature of the Earth has risen by approximately 1°C.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

In our solar system,a planet's temperature depends primarily on its albedo and distance from the Sun.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The fraction of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere has always remained about the same as it is today.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The planet-wide flow of air from the warm equator to the colder poles is called Hadley circulation.

Question 5

We do not expect Mercury to have an atmosphere at all because:

A) it is small
B) it has a high temperature
C) it is bombarded by intense solar radiation
D) all of the above

Question 6

All the terrestrial planets have atmospheres as dense as or denser than Earth's.

Question 7

The nitrogen in the Earth's atmosphere came from:

A) ammonia delivered by comet impacts
B) photosynthesis in algae and plants
C) oxidation
D) impacts

Question 8

The reason that Earth is hotter than Jupiter is because the Earth is smaller than Jupiter.

Question 9

Why did the terrestrial planets lose their primary atmospheres?

A) Their low gravities couldn't hold them.
B) The solar wind blew them away.
C) Their high surface temperatures made them chemically react with rock.
D) The centrifugal force from their fast rotation rates made them fly off.

Question 10

Which of the following contributes most to the large difference in the average daytime and nighttime temperatures on the Moon?

A) The lack of a hydrosphere
B) The lack of a magnetosphere
C) The lack of an atmosphere
D) The lack of geologic activity

Question 11

Winds are generated on Earth because the Sun unevenly heats a rotating planet.

Question 12

In the absence of a greenhouse effect,water would still be liquid on the surface of Earth.

Question 13

Mars's atmosphere is mostly composed of carbon dioxide,therefore the greenhouse effect makes the average temperature 35 degrees warmer than it would be without its atmosphere.

Question 14

The major component of the air we breathe today was deposited on Earth via cometary impacts.

Question 15

When the Martian summer occurs and the daytime temperature is 20°C,water on the surface melts and forms small pools of liquid.

Question 16

Venus's atmospheric clouds are so thick that the surface of the planet is rarely seen when observing it in visible light.

Question 17

If the carbon dioxide in Earth rocks were suddenly released into its atmosphere,Earth could quite possibly undergo a runaway greenhouse effect.

Question 18

Charged particles can easily move across magnetic field lines,but not along them.

Question 19

Venus rotates so rapidly that the dominant form of convection is powered by hurricanes moving east to west in its atmosphere.

Question 20

Molecules in the atmosphere moving faster than the escape speed of the planet are lost to space.

Question 21

The presence of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and water vapor in a planet's atmosphere is direct evidence of:

A) high surface temperatures as the planet formed
B) volcanic activity
C) cometary impacts
D) the presence of liquid water early in the planet's history

Question 22

Examine the image below. Auroras are:

A) gases fluorescing in the atmosphere
B) the magnetosphere of Earth hitting its atmosphere
C) the ozone layer being destroyed
D) a product of the atmospheric greenhouse effect

Question 23

The main greenhouse gases in the atmosphere of the terrestrial planets are:

A) oxygen and nitrogen
B) methane and ozone
C) carbon dioxide and water vapor
D) hydrogen and helium

Question 24

If water vapor was released from Venus's surface due to tectonic activity into its upper atmosphere,what would most likely happen to it?

A) The water vapor would relieve the greenhouse effect and decrease Venus's surface temperature.
B) Water droplets would condense,rain down,and form lakes on Venus's surface.
C) The water vapor would chemically react with carbon dioxide and form acid rain.
D) UV light would break apart the water molecules,and the hydrogen would be lost into space.

Question 25

__________ in our atmosphere is a direct consequence of the emergence of life.

A) Carbon dioxide
B) Water vapor
C) Nitrogen
D) Oxygen

Question 26

The greenhouse effect raises Earth's surface temperature by roughly:

A) 3.5 K
B) 35 K
C) 350 K
D) 3500 K

Question 27

Which of the following processes did NOT contribute to Earth's secondary atmosphere?

A) Volcanism
B) Accretion
C) Oxidation
D) Impacts

Question 28

Earth has roughly __________ times more atmospheric pressure than Mars and __________ times less than Venus.

A) 10; 100
B) 100; 100
C) 10; 10
D) 100; 10

Question 29

If it were not for the greenhouse effect on Earth:

A) there would be no liquid water
B) life as we know it would not have developed
C) it would be much colder
D) all of the above

Question 30

If plant life were to die on Earth:

A) the atmosphere would become denser
B) oxygen would disappear from the atmosphere
C) the atmosphere would become too sparse
D) nitrogen would disappear from the atmosphere

Question 31

The Earth releases the energy it receives from the Sun by emitting __________ radiation.

A) infrared
B) visible
C) ultraviolet
D) radio

Question 32

Without the ozone layer,life on Earth would be in danger from increased levels of __________ radiation.

A) ultraviolet
B) X-ray
C) gamma ray
D) infrared

Question 33

It took approximately __________ years for oxygen to become a large component of the Earth's atmosphere.

A) 3,000
B) 1 million
C) 3 billion
D) 1 billion

Question 34

Examine the figure below.In the Southern Hemisphere,hurricanes __________ compared to hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere due to the Coriolis effect.

A) rotate in the opposite direction
B) cause more damage
C) move from east to west
D) have larger wind speeds

Question 35

All weather and wind on Earth are a result of convection in the:

A) troposphere
B) stratosphere
C) mesosphere
D) ionosphere

Question 36

Based solely on mass,which of the following terrestrial planets would you expect to retain a secondary atmosphere?

A) Mercury
B) Venus
C) Mars
D) The Moon

Question 37

Which of the following is the hottest part of the atmosphere?

A) Troposphere
B) Stratosphere
C) Mesosphere
D) Thermosphere

Question 38

Runaway convection in the Earth's atmosphere can lead to:

A) storms
B) lightning
C) aurorae
D) acid rain

Question 39

The major difference in the composition of Earth's atmosphere compared to the atmospheres of Venus and Mars is a direct consequence of:

A) life on the planet
B) a geologically active interior
C) a moderate greenhouse effect
D) the presence of liquid water

Question 40

Which molecule moves with the fastest average speed in the Earth's atmosphere in thermal equilibrium?

A) Water (atomic mass = 18)
B) Carbon dioxide (atomic mass = 44)
C) Nitrogen (atomic mass = 28)
D) Oxygen (atomic mass = 32)

Question 41

An asteroid with an albedo of 0.1 and a comet with an albedo of 0.6 are orbiting at roughly the same distance from the Sun.How do their temperatures compare?

A) They both have the same temperature.
B) The comet is hotter than the asteroid.
C) The asteroid is hotter than the comet.
D) You must know their distance to compare their temperatures.

Question 42

Examine the figure below.What is the main driver that causes Hadley circulation in a planet's atmosphere to break up into zonal winds?

A) The planet's rapid rotation
B) Heating from the solar wind
C) Hurricanes developing along the planet's equator
D) Convection driven by solar heating

Question 43

What is unique about Venus's rotation?

A) Venus rotates very rapidly,once every nine hours.
B) Venus rotates in the opposite direction compared to the direction it orbits the Sun.
C) Venus's rotational axis is tipped by 90 degrees relative to its orbital axis.
D) All of the above are unique characteristics of Venus's rotation.

Question 44

Label the layers of Earth's atmosphere on the figure below.

Question 45

Where is most of Earth's supply of carbon dioxide today?

Question 46

Which of the following factors does NOT directly influence the temperature of a planet?

A) The luminosity of the Sun
B) The distance of the planet from the Sun
C) The albedo of the planet
D) The size of the planet

Question 47

Humans cannot survive on the surface of Mars for long periods of time because:

A) there is not enough oxygen in the atmosphere
B) the range in temperature between day and night is too large
C) the flux of ultraviolet radiation reaching the surface is too high
D) All of the above are valid reasons

Question 48

Examine the figure below. The amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere has been increasing over the last 50 years because of:

A) global warming
B) the growth of the ozone hole
C) the burning of fossil fuels
D) increased energy output from the Sun

Question 49

Why does the temperature decrease as you go higher up in altitude in the troposphere on Earth?

Question 50

Venus's surface temperature is fairly uniform from the equator to the poles because:

A) Venus rotates very rapidly,which causes strong zonal winds
B) Venus is covered by a thick cloud layer that absorbs most of the sunlight that falls on it
C) the carbon dioxide in Venus's atmosphere efficiently emits infrared radiation
D) Venus rotates slowly so Coriolis forces do not disrupt Hadley circulation

Question 51

The global winds on Earth are the result of a combination of what three things?

Question 52

Heating from __________ causes the top of the Earth's stratosphere to be warmer than the bottom.

A) higher-energy particles in the solar wind
B) convection
C) the ozone layer absorbing UV light
D) charged particles trapped by magnetic fields

Question 53

The first atmospheres of the terrestrial planets formed from hydrogen and helium.Why? What happened to this gas?

Question 54

Which of the following does NOT contribute to more extreme seasonal variations on Mars compared to Earth?

A) Its orbital eccentricity is larger.
B) Its spin axis is tilted more with respect to its orbital plane.
C) Its atmosphere is much lower in density.
D) All of the above contribute to Martian seasons being more extreme than seasons on Earth.

Question 55

Given the thickness and composition of Venus's atmosphere,by how much would you expect its average surface temperature to change between day and night?

A) Almost no change at all
B) By tens of K (like Earth)
C) By hundreds of K (like Mercury)
D) The answer depends on where Venus is in its orbit (closer to or farther from the Sun).

Question 56

If Saturn has a semimajor axis of 10 AU and an albedo of 0.7,what is its expected temperature?

A) 130 K
B) 65 K
C) 35 K
D) 170 K

Question 57

Which of the following has an atmosphere of primarily carbon dioxide?

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

Question 58

The shape of the Earth's magnetosphere is modified by:

A) the Moon's tidal force
B) the solar wind
C) Earth's own gravity
D) asymmetries in the shape of Earth's core

Question 59

The two layers of Earth's atmosphere that have temperature gradients that allow convection to occur are:

A) the troposphere and the thermosphere
B) the mesosphere and the stratosphere
C) the thermosphere and the stratosphere
D) the troposphere and the mesosphere

Question 60

Most of Earth's present-day atmosphere comes from a combination of what three sources?

Question 61

What two factors control a planet's temperature?

Question 62

On Mars,water would exist in what forms (solid,liquid,or gas)? How does this vary with the seasons on Mars? Why are the seasonal variations on Mars different between the northern and southern hemispheres?

Question 63

If sunlight cannot penetrate Venus's cloud layer efficiently,why does the temperature remain so high?

Question 64

Examine the figure below.Carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere have been rising by about 4 percent per decade due to the use of fossil fuels.If this trend continues,what could happen to Earth?

Question 65

Why are auroras seen mainly near the poles and not everywhere on Earth?

Question 66

What would you expect the temperature of a comet to be if its distance was 100 AU from the Sun? Assume that it is very icy and reflective so that its albedo is equal to 0.6.Does it matter what the radius of the comet is?

Question 67

In the stratosphere of the Earth's atmosphere,how does the temperature vary with altitude and what causes this variation?

Question 68

Earth's atmosphere is a (seemingly)enormous blanket roughly 250 km thick.What percentage of Earth's radius (6,400 km)does this represent? How does it compare to the average depth of the oceans (3 km)?

Question 69

In the figure below,why is it so difficult to see the surface of Mars in September as compared to June?