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Ast 104 T1 14 Oct.'99 Name:_________________________ SS#:____________
Multiple Choice Questions
1. How many centimeters are there in one kilometer
a. 100
b. 1000
c. 10,000
d. 100,000
e. 1x10ˆ
2. Scientific notation is used in science because
a. it makes it easy to write big or small numbers.
b. all astronomical distances are expressed in metric units.
c. it makes conversions between units easy.
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
3. If the nearest star is 4.2 light-years away, then
a. the star is 4.2 million AU away.
b. the light we see left the star 4.2 years ago.
c. the star must have formed 4.2 billion years ago.
d. the star must be very young.
e. the light we see left the star 4.2 light-years ago.
4. The radius of the moon's orbit is about ________ times larger than the radius of the earth.
a. 0.6
b. 6
c. 60
d. 600
e. 6000
5. Which of the stars in the table would appear the brightest to an observer on earth?
a. à Cet
b. à CMa
c. Nim
d. p Per
e. ë Dra
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Ast 104 T1 14 Oct.'99 Name:_________________________ SS#:____________
6. Which of the stars in the table would not be visible to the naked eye of an observer on earth?
a. à Cet
b. à CMa
c. Nim
d. p Per
e. ë Dra
7. At what two celestial locations do the celestial equator and ecliptic coincide?
a. winter solstice and summer solstice
b. vernal equinox and autumnal equinox
c. they coincide at all points because they are the same.
d. north celestial pole and south celestial pole
e. zenith and east point
8. The moon has an angular diameter of 0.5ø. What is the moon's angular diameter in seconds of arc?
a. 0.5
b. 30
c. 50
d. 1800
e. 60.5
9. You live at a latitude of 39ø S. What is the angle between the southern horizon and the south celestial pole?
a. 45ø
b. 23.5ø
c. 39ø
d. 51ø
e. The answer depends on the day of the year.
10. A solar or lunar eclipse will occur
a. when the sun is near the line of nodes of the moon and the moon is new or full.
b. any time the moon is new or full.
c. when the sun is near the solstice and the moon is new or full.
d. half way through an eclipse year.
e. when the sun is near the equinox and the moon is new or full.
11. Spring tides occur
a. at new moon and first quarter moon.
b. at first quarter and third quarter moons.
c. at new moon and full moon.
d. at third quarter and full moons.
e. at noon and midnight.
12. During a total lunar eclipse
a. the moon must be new.
b. the observer must be in the path of totality.
c. the moon will glow a coppery red.
d. the moon must be at about its greatest distance from Earth.
e. it must be near the time of one of the equinoxes.
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Ast 104 T1 14 Oct.'99 Name:_________________________ SS#:____________
13. The first quarter moon rises
a. at about noon.
b. at sunset.
c. at sunrise.
d. at about midnight.
e. during the second week of each calendar month.
14. When will the full moon be highest above the southern horizon for an observer in the Northern Hemisphere?
a. at midnight near the summer solstice
b. at midnight near the vernal equinox
c. at midnight near the winter solstice
d. at midnight near the vernal equinox
e. The angle between the southern horizon and the full moon at midnight does not change with the seasons.
15. Galileo's observations of the gibbous phase of Venus proved
a. that Venus orbited the sun.
b. that Earth orbited the sun.
c. that all of the planets orbited the sun.
d. that the moon orbited Earth.
e. that Venus had an atmosphere.
16. Halley's comet has an orbital period of 76 years. What is the average distance of Comet Halley from the sun?
a. 51 AU
b. 18 AU
c. 114 AU
d. 660 AU
e. 38 AU
17. Perigee is
a. the point in the moon's orbit when it is farthest from Earth.
b. the point in a planet's orbit when it is farthest from the sun.
c. the point in an object's orbit around Earth, when it is closest to Earth.
d. the point in a planet's orbit when it is closest to the sun.
e. the time it takes a celestial object to complete one orbit around the object it is orbiting.
18. A comet near the sun whose orbit is ____________ would never be near the sun again.
a. elliptical
b. circular
c. hyperbolic
d. apogee
e. following an inverse square law
19. Galileo found that
a. falling objects fall at a constant speed.
b. heavy and light objects fall at the same rate.
c. heavy objects fall faster than lighter objects.
d. the moon's orbit is elliptical.
e. only objects made of earth and water fell to the ground.
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Ast 104 T1 14 Oct.'99 Name:_________________________ SS#:____________
The remaining five questions require calculations. You may want to provide students with the value of G = 6.67 x 10€ N m‚ kg€‚.
20. The radius of Earth is 6378 km. The force of gravity on a 1 kg ball at Earth's surface is 9.8 kg m s€‚. What is the force of gravity on this same ball when the ball is located 12,756 km from Earth's center?
a. 2.45 kg m s€‚
b. 39.2 kg m s€‚
c. 4.9 kg m s€‚
d. 19.6 kg m s€‚
e. 9.8 kg m s€‚
21. What is the wavelength of the longest wavelength light that can be seen with the human eye?
a. 400 nm
b. 4000 nm
c. 7000 nm
d. 700 nm
e. 3 x 10Š m
22. ____________ has (have) wavelengths that are longer than visible light.
a. Gamma-rays
b. Ultraviolet light
c. Infrared radiation
d. X-rays
e. a, b and d above
23. Radio telescopes have poor resolving power because
a. their diameters are so large.
b. the energy they receive is not electromagnetic radiation.
c. radio waves have long wavelengths.
d. a and b
e. none of the above
24. Ultraviolet radiation from a star
a. will not penetrate Earth's atmosphere and reach the ground.
b. has a wavelength that is longer than the visible light emitted by the star.
c. has a wavelength that is shorter than the x-rays emitted by the star.
d. a and b
e. b and c
25. A __________ is a piece of glass with many small parallel lines etched on its surface to produce a spectrum.
a. grating
b. spectrograph
c. photometer
d. charge-coupled device
e. prism
26. The ___________ of a telescope is a measure of its ability to show fine detail and depends on the diameter of the objective.
a. light-gathering power
b. focal length
c. magnifying power
d. resolving power
e. spherical aberration
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Ast 104 T1 14 Oct.'99 Name:_________________________ SS#:____________
The four remaining multiple choice questions require calculations and extend a little beyond descriptions and problems in the text. I do ask my students to be able to answer these types of problems, and I do a few examples in class. I generally provide Planck's constant (6.63 x 10€„… J s) and the speed of light (3.0 x 10‰ nm or 3.0 x 10Š ›/s) at the top of the exam. Additionally, some of these problems use the unit of Hertz or its abbreviation (Hz) for frequency. This unit of frequency is not used in this chapter of the text.
27. A wave traveling at a speed of 90 meters per second with a frequency of 60 Hz would have a wavelength of
a. 5400 meters.
b. 540 nm.
c. 1.5 meters.
d. 60 meters.
e. 90 meters.
28. Absolute zero is
a. zero degrees Celsius.
b. the temperature at which atoms have no remaining energy from which we can extract heat.
c. the temperature at which water freezes.
d. both a and c
e. none of the above
29. The neutral hydrogen atom consists of
a. one proton and one neutron.
b. one proton.
c. one proton, one neutron, and one electron.
d. one proton and one electron.
e. an isotope and an ion.
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Ast 104 T1 14 Oct.'99 Name:_________________________ SS#:____________
30. In the diagram below, which of the transitions would absorb a photon with the smallest energy?
a. Transition 1
b. Transition 2
c. Transition 3
d. Transition 4
e. Transition 5
31. The two most abundant elements in the sun are
a. nitrogen and oxygen.
b. hydrogen and helium.
c. sulfur and iron.
d. carbon and hydrogen.
e. carbon and nitrogen.
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Ast 104 T1 14 Oct.'99 Name:_________________________ SS#:____________
32. The diagram below illustrates a light source, a gas cloud, and three different lines of sight. Along which line of sight would an observer see an emission spectrum?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 2 and 3
e. none of them
33. The radiation emitted from a star has a maximum intensity at a wavelength of 300 nm. What is the temperature of this star?
a. 300 K
b. 100 K
c. 900,000,000 K
d. 90,000 K
e. 10,000 K
Fill in the Blank Questions
34. The average distance from Earth to the sun is one __________.
35. Which planets are never visible near the Western horizon at sunrise?
36. The __________ month is the period of revolution of the moon to around Earth with respect to the Sun.
37. The first observations of objects in the solar system that orbited neither the sun nor Earth were made by ________________.
True-False Questions
38. The sun is a star in the Milky Way Galaxy.
39. The metric system is a decimal system.
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Ast 104 T1 14 Oct.'99 Name:_________________________ SS#:____________
40. The moon and visible planets are always within a few degrees of the ecliptic.
41. A second magnitude star in Ursa Major is brighter than a fourth magnitude star in Orion.
42. The celestial equator always crosses the horizon at the east point and west point.
43. If you were on the moon during a total lunar eclipse, the sun would be hidden behind Earth.
44. The umbra of the moon's shadow is the region from which no part of the photosphere is visible.
45. Many classical astronomers believed Earth could not move because they detected no parallax.
46. Classical Greek astronomers believed the motions of the heavens could be described by uniform circular motion.
48. 300 nm light has a lower frequency than 500 nm light.
49. Light can behave as a particle or as a wave.
50. An atom that has lost an electron is called an ion.
(c) 1997 Wadsworth Publishing Co. All rights reserved.
PAGE 1
ANSWER KEY FOR TEST - T1
1. d
Chapter:1 QUESTION: 1
2. a
Chapter:1 QUESTION: 2
3. b
Chapter:1 QUESTION: 5
4. c
Chapter:1 QUESTION: 7
5. b
Chapter:2 QUESTION: 1
6. c
Chapter:2 QUESTION: 3
7. b
Chapter:2 QUESTION: 5
8. d.
Chapter:2 QUESTION: 7
9. c
Chapter:2 QUESTION: 8
10. a
Chapter:3 QUESTION: 2
11. c
Chapter:3 QUESTION: 5
12. c
Chapter:3 QUESTION: 12
13. a
Chapter:3 QUESTION: 15
14. c
Chapter:3 QUESTION: 21
15. a
Chapter:4 QUESTION: 13
16. b
Chapter:4 QUESTION: 23
17. c
Chapter:5 QUESTION: 1
18. c
Chapter:5 QUESTION: 3
19. b
Chapter:5 QUESTION: 7
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20. a
Chapter:5 QUESTION: 22
21. d
Chapter:6 QUESTION: 1
22. c
Chapter:6 QUESTION: 2
23. c
Chapter:6 QUESTION: 5
24. a
Chapter:6 QUESTION: 6
25. a
Chapter:6 QUESTION: 15
26. d
Chapter:6 QUESTION: 19
27. c
Chapter:6 QUESTION: 24
28. b
Chapter:7 QUESTION: 1
29. d
Chapter:7 QUESTION: 2
30. e
Chapter:7 QUESTION: 7
31. b
Chapter:7 QUESTION: 11
32. b
Chapter:7 QUESTION: 15
33. e
Chapter:7 QUESTION: 19
34. astronomical unit
Chapter:1 QUESTION: 14
35. Mercury and Venus
Chapter:2 QUESTION: 29
36. synodic
Chapter:3 QUESTION: 28
37. Galileo
Chapter:4 QUESTION: 28
38. T
Chapter:1 QUESTION: 23
39. T
Chapter:1 QUESTION: 24
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40. T
Chapter:2 QUESTION: 31
41. T
Chapter:2 QUESTION: 34
42. T
Chapter:2 QUESTION: 39
43. T
Chapter:3 QUESTION: 37
44. T
Chapter:3 QUESTION: 40
45. T
Chapter:4 QUESTION: 37
46. T
Chapter:4 QUESTION: 39
47. T
Chapter:5 QUESTION: 33
48. F
Chapter:6 QUESTION: 33
49. T
Chapter:6 QUESTION: 36
50. T
Chapter:7 QUESTION: 38
(c) 1997 Wadsworth Publishing Co. All rights reserved.