Astro 7N Copper Quizzes (Units 1 and 2)

According to Newton's second law of motion, if the net force acting on the object increases while the mass of the object remains constant, what happens to the acceleration?

acceleration increases

If the Earth were moved to half its current distance from the Sun, how would the force of gravity by the Sun on the Earth change?

It would become four times stronger

What did Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation tell us about how gravity works?

The force of gravity from the Sun will be stronger on an object with more mass

The Earth radius is about 6400 km. If you were in orbit in the Space Station 150 km above ground, the force of gravity you feel from Earth would be:

slightly weaker than when you are standing on Earth

If you were to sit on the ground, there would be a force due to gravity pulling you toward the Earth. Which of the following is true according to Newton's 3rd Law?

you are pulling the Earth toward yourself with the same force

What would happen to the Earth if the Sun's gravity somehow 'turned off' instantaneously?

It would continue to move in a line in the same direction it was moving when the gravity turned off

Consider a planet whose rotation axis is NOT tilted with respect to its orbital plane. What are seasons like on this planet?

there are no seasons

If the Earth rotated on its axis more slowly than it does now:

its days would be longer

If Earth had its orbit changed so that at all points along its orbit it was always the same distance from the Sun (circular orbit), how would this affect the seasons on Earth?

They would be the same as they are now

A new planet orbits its star faster than the Earth orbits the Sun and it rotates more slowly than the Earth rotates. Which of the following is true?

The new planet has a shorter year than Earth and a longer day than Earth

What time of year is it dark all day (and night) at the South pole?

June

If Earth's Moon was Full on May 1,2007. When was it next in the First Quarter phase after this Full Moon?

May 22

How much of the total surface area of the Moon is illuminated by Sunlight during the Full Moon phase?

one half.

At approximately what time does the third quarter Moon rise?

Midnight

Approximately two weeks after a Solar Eclipse, what phase will the Moon be in?

Full

A moon orbits a planet in exactly the same plane as the planet orbits its star. How often does this planet experience a solar eclipse?

Once every orbit of its moon (its month)

What is the relationship between wavelength and frequency?

If the frequency increases the wavelength decreases

Compare frequency of x-ray versus regular light.

The X-ray has a larger frequency than visible light

Compare the frequency and wavelength of a gamma ray with visible light:

gamma ray frequency is higher and its wavelength is lower

If the frequency of radiation is twice as large then its wavelength is

half as large

Compared to blue light, red light has

longer wavelength, small frequency, smaller energy

Which types of radiation have the lowest energy?

infrared radiation and radio

The spectrum of an oxygen lamp looks different than the spectrum of a sodium lamp because:

each atom has a unique set of electron orbits

Dark lines in an absorption spectrum represent:

particular energies of light coming from a distant object that are absorbed by material in between

Which of the following is FALSE?

The energy of a photon increases in proportion to the wavelength of the radiation

Which of the following is true?

An absorption spectrum appears as a continuous spectrum interrupted by a series of dark lines.

The electrons in a cloud of hydrogen are making the transition from high energy states to the lowest energy state. What does the spectrum of this cloud of hydrogen gas look like?

It will consist of a few bright emission lines at specific wavelengths

What was Kepler's First Law?

Planets revolve around the sun in elliptical orbits with Sun at one focus of the ellipse.

What best describes the orbit of the Earth around the Sun?

An ellipse that is close to being circular

Which of the following does Kepler's Second Law support?

When a planet is closer to the Sun, its speed is greater than when it is farther away

How did Kepler himself originally state his second law?

A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time

What was Kepler's Third Law?

The square of the time period of the planet's orbit is proportional to the cube of its average distance from the Sun (P^2 is proportional to a^3)

Saturn is about 10 times as far from the Sun as Earth is (a = 10 AU, roughly). About how many times does Earth orbit the Sun in the time it takes Saturn to orbit just once?

About 30

Besides, the discovery that moons orbit Jupiter, what other discovery made by Galileo Galilei, with an early telescope, proved that the Earth is not at the center of the Universe?

the phases of Venus

We saw that Kepler's 3rd law states that P^2/a^3 = constant. What does P represent in this equation?

orbital period, in this case how long it takes for a satellite to orbit Jupiter

Of the four Galilean moons which is the closest to Jupiter?

Io

Which moon of Jupiter is believed to have a liquid ocean beneath a layer of ice?

Europa

Which moon of Jupiter is the largest?

Ganymede

Why is Venus' day so long?

Venus' rotation time is very long comparted to the time it takes to go once around the Sun

The Greenhouse effect:

is larger on Venus than on Earth

Which two Terrestrial planets have the least amount of atmosphere?

Mercury and Mars

The densities of the four Terrestrial planets are similar to each other. This means

they are made of similar substances

A meteor shower can occur when:

Earth's orbit crosses a trail of debris left behind from a comet

Most meteors:

are very small (centimeter scale) pieces of rock burning in the Earth's atmosphere.

A comet's nucleus is composed of:

dust, dry ice, and water ice

The material in a meteorite is:

roughly as old as the Solar System

Which of the following is not a characteristic of jovian planets?

They have a higher density than terrestrial planets

Which planet has a moon with many sulfur volcanoes?

Jupiter

Which planets have rocky, relatively dense composition?

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

Which of the following statements is FALSE?

Jupiter's moon Io does not have any volcanic activity

What properties characterize all of the Jovian planets (compared to Terrestrial planets)?

many moons, large size, low densities