1. Venus appears brightest to us when it is in what phase?
a) new
b) full
c) half
d) gibbous
e) crescent
2. For the Solar System, the period of a planet in years squared equals the
semi-major
axis in AU raised to what power?
a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 d) 4 e) 5
3. As a planet approaches perihelion from aphelion, it
a) moves slower (in kilometers per second)
b) moves at a constant speed
c) moves faster (in kilometers per second)
d) at first moves faster, then slows down
e) at first moves slower then speeds up
4. Which observation by Galileo supports the Copernican theory?
a) phases of the Moon
b) retrograde motion
c) the discovery of Pluto
d) the color of Mars
e) the phases of Venus
5. If you were to triple the mass of the Earth but keep the radius the same
you would weigh
a) the same as you do now
b) 3 times as much as you do now
c) 1/3 as much as you do now
d) 9 times as much as you do now
e) 1/9 times as much as you do now
6. Where does the Earth's gravity actually end?
a) at the Sun
b) at the end of the planetary system
c) at the nearest star
d) at the Moon
e) nowhere
7. As you descend in an elevator in a tall building, your weight
a) decreases
b) increases
c) stays the same.
d) does something, but you can't predict what
e) depends on the elevator's speed in meters per second
8. Orbiting astronauts are weightless because the
a) shuttle is out of the Earth's gravity.
b) cabin's hull shields the astronauts from the Earth's
gravity.
c) Earth's gravity is balanced by the Moon's gravity
d) Earth's gravity is balanced by the Sun's gravity
e) astronauts and the cabin are both free-falling bodies.
9. If you could cut off the gravity of the Sun and planets (which you cannot),
Mars would
a) go into a perfectly circular orbit around the Sun
b) go flying away from the Solar System in a straight line
c) go into an elliptical orbit relative to the Sun
d) rotate faster
e) fall directly into the Sun
10. A body in a hyperbolic orbit relative to the Sun
a) will sometimes return to the Sun depending on its speed
b) will always return to the Sun
c) will never return to the Sun
d) is not possible
e) will always fall into the Sun
11. Which planet was discovered by William Herschel in the 18th century?
a) Venus
b) Mercury
c) Neptune
d) Uranus
e) Pluto
12. The orbits of planets cannot actually be perfect ellipses because
a) of their rotations
b) the planets are not spherical
c) of the gravitational pulls of the other planets
d) of the gravitational pulls of the stars
e) the Sun's gravitational field does not behave according to an
inverse square law
13. The motion of Uranus led to the discovery of
a) Venus b) Jupiter c) Mars d) Neptune e) the asteroids
14. If you could suddenly shrink the Earth (make the Earth smaller in radius
but keep the same mass), the length of the day would
a) increase
b) decrease
c) stay the same
d) increase or decrease depending on the time of year
e) be unpredictable
15. Kepler's third law as generalized by Newton allows you to find
a) the mass of the Sun
b) nothing
c) the chemical composition of Jupiter's atmosphere
d) your latitude
e) the season of the year
16. Pluto was discovered by
a) Einstein b) Newton c) Halley d) Tombaugh e) Herschel
17. Kepler's second law of planetary motion is essentially the conservation
of
a) angular momentum
b) mass
c) energy
d) mass plus energy
e) electric charge
18. Your weight on a planet depends
a) only on the planet's mass
b) only on the planet's radius
c) on both the planet's mass and radius
d) on neither the planet's mass nor radius
e) on the planet's mass, radius, and magnetic field
19. Which particle carries the negative electric charge?
a) only the electron
b) only the neutron
c) only the proton
d) both the proton and the neutron
e) both the proton and the electron
20. Which particles have nearly the same mass?
a) electron and proton
b) proton and neutron
c) neutron and electron
d) none of the above three
e) all the above three
21. Which force holds protons and neutrons together in an atomic nucleus?
a) gravity
b) strong
c) weak
d) electromagnetic
e) all the above
22. Which force holds the electron to the nucleus?
a) gravity
b) strong
c) weak
d) electromagnetic
e) all the above
23. The kind of chemical element is determined by the number of
a) protons in the nucleus
b) neutrons in the nucleus
c) neutrons + protons in the nucleus
d) neutrons + electrons in the nucleus
e) protons + neutrons + electrons in the nucleus
24. The second lightest of all elements is
a) iron
b) helium
c) carbon
d) hydrogen
e) lithium
25. Which is the correct order from shortest-wave (highest-energy) radiation
to longest-wave (lowest-energy) radiation.
a) radio, X-ray, gamma-ray, blue light, red light
b) gamma-ray, X-ray, blue light, red light, radio
c) radio, blue light, red light, gamma-ray, X-ray
d) radio, infrared light, blue light, X-ray, gamma ray
e) infrared light, radio, blue light, red light, gamma-ray