Deck 1: Cosmology and the Birth of the Earth

Question 1

In the context of scientific cosmology,the universe contains two basic entities: __________ and __________.

A) matter,energy
B) mass,energy
C) stars,planets
D) celestial objects,matter

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The giant planets are

A) Mars,Mercury,and Venus.
B) Mars,Venus,and Jupiter.
C) Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,and Neptune.
D) Uranus,Saturn,and Neptune.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following statements is true of terrestrial planets as compared to the Jovian planets?

A) Terrestrial planets are smaller.
B) Terrestrial planets are less dense.
C) Terrestrial planets are farther from the Sun.
D) Terrestrial planets have higher masses.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which planet in our Solar System has the highest mass?

A) Earth
B) Mars
C) Jupiter
D) Neptune

Question 5

The terrestrial planets are also known as the

A) inner planets.
B) outer planets.
C) giant planets.
D) Jovian planets.

Question 6

Which of the following is a terrestrial planet?

A) Neptune
B) Mercury
C) Jupiter
D) Uranus

Question 7

__________ is the substance that makes up objects.

A) Energy
B) Mass
C) Matter
D) Cosmology

Question 8

Most asteroids inhabit the "asteroid belt" between the planets

A) Earth and Mars.
B) Mars and Jupiter.
C) Jupiter and Saturn.
D) Neptune and Pluto.

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT necessarily true of a planet?

A) It orbits a star.
B) It is nearly spherical in shape.
C) It has one or more moons.
D) It has cleared its neighborhood of other objects.

Question 10

Which of the following is most true of moons?

A) Moons orbit a star.
B) Moons orbit a planet.
C) Moons are stationary in space.
D) Moons are composed of rock.

Question 11

The amount of matter in an object is referred to as its

A) cosmology.
B) astrology.
C) weight.
D) mass.

Question 12

In ancient Greece,Eratosthenes measured the difference in angles of the Sun's rays in two different locations in Egypt at the same time to calculate the

A) rate of rotation of the Earth.
B) distance from the Earth to the Moon.
C) distance from the Earth to the Sun.
D) circumference of the Earth.

Question 13

Terrestrial planets are mainly composed of ________,while the giant planets are made predominantly of ________.

A) volatiles; rock and metals
B) rock and metals; volatiles
C) refractory materials; volatiles and metals
D) volatiles and metals; refractory materials

Question 14

Eratosthenes was the first person to accurately estimate the size of the Earth.He accomplished this feat by

A) sailing around the world and estimating his average rate of travel.
B) comparing the length of an Earth day with the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
C) measuring the severity of the greatest earthquakes.
D) observing shadows cast simultaneously at two different cities that were separated by a known distance.

Question 15

In the heliocentric model,

A) the Earth orbits around the Sun.
B) the Sun orbits around the Earth.
C) the Earth is a stationary planet.
D) Mercury and Venus orbit around the Sun,but all other planets orbit around the Earth.

Question 16

The branch of science that studies the structure and history of the Universe is

A) cosmetology.
B) scientology.
C) cosmology.
D) astrology.

Question 17

Aside from the Earth,the terrestrial planets are

A) Mars,Mercury,and Venus.
B) Mars,Venus,and Jupiter.
C) Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,and Neptune.
D) Mars and Saturn.

Question 18

Energy can best be described as

A) the substance that makes up objects.
B) the inherent ability of a region of space and the matter within it to do work.
C) the amount of matter in an object.
D) the change in frequency that happens when a wave source moves.

Question 19

Which of the following planets is MOST similar to Earth?

A) Neptune
B) Mercury
C) Jupiter
D) Uranus

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT considered a Jovian planet?

A) Uranus
B) Neptune
C) Saturn
D) Pluto

Question 21

By far the most common elements in the Universe and in our Solar System are

A) nitrogen and oxygen.
B) iron and manganese.
C) hydrogen and helium.
D) hydrogen and oxygen.

Question 22

Foucault's experiment with a pendulum proved that

A) the Earth is the center of the Universe.
B) the Earth revolves around the Sun.
C) the Earth rotates about an internal axis.
D) the Sun revolves around the Earth.

Question 23

Researchers have determined that the Universe began expanding after the Big Bang.When did the Big Bang event occur?

A) 1.3 Ga
B) 13.7 Ga
C) 137 Ga
D) 13.7 Ma

Question 24

The change in wavelength (and therefore frequency)of waves that happens if the source of the waves is moving is explained by the

A) Big Bang theory.
B) nebular theory.
C) expanding Universe theory.
D) Doppler effect.

Question 25

Which of the following is true about blue-shifted light that we detect from the cosmos?

A) It signifies a source that is moving toward us.
B) It is common for galaxies to emit this type of light.
C) The detected light has a longer wavelength than at the source.
D) The detected light has a lower frequency than at the source.

Question 26

Our Solar System belongs to a galaxy known as

A) Andromeda.
B) Cepheus.
C) the Milky Way.
D) the Stratosphere.

Question 27

A light year is a unit that measures

A) time.
B) mass.
C) distance.
D) luminous intensity.

Question 28

Look at the two conceptual examples of light waves shown below.These two waves

A) have different wavelengths.
B) have different amplitudes.
C) represent the same hue (color)of light.
D) travel at different velocities.

Question 29

Atoms that are heavier than iron are generally produced by

A) fission reactions within stars.
B) fusion reactions within stars.
C) explosions of supernovas.
D) the Big Bang.

Question 30

The images below show two different nuclear reactions.The left image shows ________,while the right image shows ________.

A) fusion; fission
B) fission; fusion
C) Both images show the same type of fusion.
D) Both images show the same type of fission.

Question 31

The Big Bang theory states that

A) all stars will end their lives explosively as supernovas.
B) the Earth formed through a series of violent collisions.
C) meteors were responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs.
D) all matter in the Universe was once confined to a single point.

Question 32

According to the Big Bang theory,our Universe is ________.

A) expanding
B) contracting
C) static
D) periodically contracting and expandingddd

Question 33

Strong evidence that the Universe is expanding comes from the fact that the light emitted from nearly all distant galaxies appears to be

A) red-shifted.
B) blue-shifted.
C) green-shifted.
D) yellow-shifted.

Question 34

When we say that light from a distant stellar object is red-shifted,this means that the light we see

A) is from an object moving toward us.
B) is red in color and must have come from a red giant star.
C) has a higher frequency than at the source.
D) has a longer wavelength than at the source.

Question 35

The closest galaxy to ours is ________,which is 4.37 light years away.

A) Alpha Centauri
B) Andromeda
C) Kuiper Belt
D) Orion

Question 36

The figure below shows a moving source of light with four stationary observers at different locations.Which observer will see red-shifted light from the moving source?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D

Question 37

The best estimate of when the Universe formed is

A) 13.7 Ma.
B) 13.7 Ga.
C) 4.57 Ma.
D) 4.57 Ga.

Question 38

According to the Big Bang theory,

A) the Earth is much older than the rest of the Universe.
B) the Universe is much older than the Earth.
C) the Earth and the Universe formed at about the same time.
D) there is no way of knowing how old the Universe might be.

Question 39

Light from a star that has been shifted due to the Doppler effect is most likely to tell us the __________ of the star.

A) relative velocity
B) temperature
C) composition
D) age

Question 40

Because of the Doppler effect,a light- or sound-emitting object moving toward you has a ________ than a stationary object.

A) higher amplitude
B) lower frequency
C) lower amplitude
D) higher frequency

Question 41

Why is the Earth round?

Question 42

How did our Moon form?

Question 43

The current scientific explanation for the origin of planets,moons,asteroids,and comets in our Solar System is the

A) expanding Universe theory.
B) nebular theory.
C) Big Bang theory.
D) theory of plate tectonics.

Question 44

Volatile materials can exist as gases at the Earth's surface.Which of the following is NOT a volatile material?

A) water
B) silicon
C) hydrogen
D) carbon dioxide

Question 45

The first atoms of the Universe (hydrogen and helium)formed within minutes of the Big Bang.How did the other elements form?

Question 46

Briefly describe how our Solar System formed,according to the nebular theory.

Question 47

Scientists believe that the Moon formed due to a protoplanet colliding with the Earth.If this is the case,the Moon should have a composition similar to

A) other meteors.
B) other comets.
C) the Earth's crust.
D) the Earth's mantle.

Question 48

The metal alloy that makes up the core of the Earth is ________,as compared to the rocky mantle.

A) less dense
B) denser
C) very similar in chemistry and density
D) distinct in chemistry but of very similar density

Question 49

Currently,the most accurate ages of the Earth come from dating

A) ice in comets.
B) ancient volcanic rocks.
C) rock samples brought back from the Moon.
D) meteorites.

Question 50

Which of the following bodies is the smallest?

A) planet
B) star
C) protoplanet
D) planetesimal

Question 51

Differentiation of the core from the mantle early in the Earth's history was possible because the planet was ________ at the time.

A) very cold
B) very hot
C) very small
D) the only planet in the Solar System

Question 52

In the context of scientific cosmology,the universe contains two basic entities.Define these entities and explain the difference between them.

Question 53

The following images of a geocentric universe and a heliocentric universe were drawn by artists hundreds of years ago.Contrast these two views of the universe.

Question 54

The figure below represents the final stage in the Earth's formation,which is marked by all of the following EXCEPT

A) atmosphere formation.
B) rains creating the oceans.
C) gases being added by passing comets.
D) differentiation of the core and mantle.

Question 55

What is a planet? List the three criteria that define a planet.Why is Pluto no longer considered a planet?

Question 56

The primary evidence that our Sun is a third-,fourth-,or fifth-generation star comes from the fact that our

A) Solar System contains too many heavy atoms to be first-generation.
B) Solar System is too large to be first-generation.
C) Sun is too hot to be a first-generation star.
D) Sun is too large to be a first-generation star.

Question 57

What is happening to the size of the Universe? How do we know?

Question 58

Contrast the terrestrial planets and the giant planets.

Question 59

Which of the following best describes how the Earth's Moon formed?

A) The Earth and Moon formed at the same time.
B) Early in the history of our Solar System,an asteroid was captured by the Earth's gravity and became the Moon.
C) Early in the history of our Solar System,a protoplanet collided with the Earth,sending debris into orbit that coalesced to form the Moon.
D) Early in the history of our Solar System,a group of comets was captured by the Earth's gravity and coalesced to form the Moon.

Question 60

Scientists have estimated the age of the Earth to be 4.57 Ga.What did they use to determine this age and why did they use it?