Physics 101- Exam 1

Physics" could best be described as the study of     

(a) matter. 

(b) atoms in motion. 

(c) the absolute (or certain) truths about the natural world. 

(d) the general principles underlying natural phenomenon

(e) the application of science to the needs of human beings.

D

Which of the following planets in the solar system has an orbit that is the most egg-shaped or the most elliptical:

(a) Neptune

(b) Earth

(c) Jupiter

(d) Mercury

(e) Venus

D

How did ancient Greeks such as Aristotle know that Earth is round?

(a) By triangulation (measuring the distance between 2 points, and measuring 2 angles, to determine the distance to a 3rd point).

(b) By noting that ships drop below the horizon as they go out to sea.

(c) From the ancient manuscripts of authors such as Homer.

(d) Careful measurements of the distance, along Earth's surface, between two widely separated points showed it to be longer than the straight-line distance.

(e) Actually, the ancient Greeks thought that Earth is flat.

 

B

In Ptolemy's theory,                                                

(a) the planets move in circles around the sun. 

(b) the planets move in circles around Earth. 

(c) the planets move in circles-within-circles ("loop-the-loops") around Earth. 

(d) the planets move in circles-within-circles around the sun. 

(e) the planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun.

 

C

In Copernicus's  theory, retrograde planetary motion is explained as

(a) the backward part of the planet's loop-the-loop orbits around Earth. 

(b) due to the back-and-forth or "oscillatory" motion that planets make as they move along their circular orbits around Earth. 

(c) a result of Earth's motion:  as Earth passes another planet, that planet appears to move backward as seen against the background stars. 

(d) due to the natural wandering of the celestial sphere of background stars. 

(e) actually he didn't have an explanation for this.

 

C

What did Galileo observe with the telescope that was incompatible with the theories of an Earth-centered universe?

(a) the wobbly path of Mars

(b) retrograde motion

(c) the phases of Venus 

(d) the phases of the moon

(e) the wobbly path of Venus

C

Tycho Brahe

(a) was the first to propose the theory that the planets move in ellipses around the sun.

(b) made measurements that contradicted Ptolemy's theory and supported Copernicus's theory.

(c) made measurements that supported both Ptolemy's theory and Copernicus's theory.

(d) made measurements that contradicted both Ptolemy's theory and Copernicus's theory.

(e) invented the telescope.

D

. According to Kepler’s theory, what geometric shape fits the planetary orbits?

(a) A circle

(b) An ellipse

(c) A triangle

(d) A hexagon

(e) An octagon

B

Can a scientific theory be proved (can we show that the theory is certainly true)?  Can it be disproved?

(a) A scientific theory can be both proved and disproved.

(b) A scientific theory can be proved, but you cannot disprove one.

(c) A scientific theory cannot be proved, but you can disprove one.

(d) A scientific theory cannot be proved or disproved.

C

. Our sun wobbles because

(a) of the influence of the gravitational pull from other planets.

(b) of the influence of powerful solar eruptions.

(c) of the influence of the meteorites hitting the sun.

(d) of the influence of black holes.

(e) it has drank too much alcohol.

A

The general principles underlying phenomena

Physics

What did the Babylonians and Egyptians know about space?

The mood, stars, sun and 5 planets

What did the Greeks believe about space?

Believed each sphere rotated at a uniform rate around Earth, roughly once a day

What belief did Pythagoras have about abstract ideas?

He believed that all abstract ideas were mathmatical

What did Aristotle believe about space?

-Earth is spherical due to cast of shadow on the moon during an eclipse

Who was the first person to propose a sun-centered theory?

Aristarchus

What theory was first used to explain retrograde motion of the planets?

Simple Epicycle Theory

What was the Simple Epicycle Theory?

The belief that planets around an Earth-centered universe did loop-d-loops around its path.

Who modified the simple epicycle theory?

Ptolemy

What was Ptolemy’s Epicycle Theory

He devised that over 80 epicycles had to be present in order for the epicycle theory to be correct

In Ptolemy’s Epicycle Theory, what did he believe was different about Earth?

It believed it had to be off center

In Ptolemy’s Epicycle Theory, which two planets epicenters did he believe were aligned with the sun?

Venus and mercury

What measures did Ptolemy use when checking his theory?

Used long sighting rods with a scale to measure the angular position of a planet from the horizon

Who re-introduced a sun-centered universe after Ptolemy’s theory?

Copernicus

What did Copernicus believe about the motions of planets on their paths?

He believed that they were uniform and circular

How did Copernicus explain retrograde motion?

Retrograde motion occurs when Earth overtakes another planet

Copernicus’s finding led to which famous physicist to work on his work?

Newton

What planet caused Copernicus to believe in a sun-centered universe?

Venus and its phases

Who used a new device to measure planets and realized that neither Copernicus nor Ptolemy’s theories were correct?

Brahe

Who was Brahe’s student?

Kepler

Who claimed that planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun?

Kepler

Kepler claimed that when the planets are closer to the sun, the ____ it moves.

faster

What is the point closest to the sun called?

Perihelion

What is the point farthest away from the sun called?

Aphelion

How far from circular a planet’s path is

Eccentricity

Closest point to earth

Perigee

Farthest point from Earth

Apogee

True or False: Seasons are due to a planet’s eccentricity

FALSE

Average distance between Earth and the Sun

Astronomical Unit

How is heat from the Sun created?

It is created by nuclear reactions

What takes up 99% of the mass in the solar system?

The Sun

All planets orbit the sun _____

counter-clockwise

All planets orbit the sun on the same plane as Earth, called the ______.

Ecliptic Plane

Planets closer to the sun

Terrestrial

Planets farther away from the sun

Jovian Planets

What separates the Terrestrial and Jovian planets?

The Asteroid Belt

True of False: The asteroid belt is on the same plane as the planets

True

Small, rocky, sometimes spherical and lumpy rocks in space

Asteroids

Rocks that are relatively smaller in diameter than asteroids

Meteroroids

What are meteoroids called when they enter Earth’s atmosphere?

Meteors

Meteors that arrive on Earth’s surface are called

Meteorites

What belt starts beyond Neptune’s orbit

Kuiper Belt

What is past the Kuiper Belt and is a spherical cloud of comets

Oort Cloud

True or False: The Oort Cloud has uniform eccentricity and orbits

False

Mars has a (thick/thin) atmosphere

Thin

Mars has (lots/little) liquid water

little

True or False: Mars has a crust, mantle, and core just like Earth

True

True or False: The variations between night and daytime on the equator of Mars is not that big

False; 86F during Day and -202F at night

What are the names of the two moons of Mars

Phobos and Deimos

Where did the two moons of Mars supposedly come from?

The asteroid belt

What is the largest planet in our solar system?

Jupiter

Jupiter (does/does not) have a firm surface crust

does not

What is Jupiter’s atmosphere mostly made of?

hydrogen and helium

How many confirmed moons does Jupiter have?

92

Jupiter’s atmospheric pressure is about a _______ times greater than Earth’s

million

What experiment did ancient Greeks use to try to determine whether or not matter in continuous or made up of many different particles?

Cutting gold

Who made the Atomic Theory of Matter?

Democritus

Who discovered that when two substances combine chemically, they always combine in simple ratios of weight, which proved that matter cannot be infinitely divisible.

John Dalton

What is it called when atoms “jiggle” around?

Brownian Motion

What did Einstein explain about Brownian motion?

Brownian motion occurs as a result of atoms or molecules colliding against the particles of another substance

What piece of technology is direct evidence that atoms exist?

Scanning Tunneling Microscope

During the 19th century, chemists discovered that they could break down substances using ….

chemical decomposition

The smallest substances that chemical decomposition cannot decompose are called the …

chemical elements

The smallest part of a chemical element

Atoms

Any pure substance made of atoms of different types is a …

chemical compound

Groupings of elements that separate them by atomic radius

Periods

What group of elements are extremely reactive?

Alkali Metals

What group of elements are non-reactive, has a low-boiling point, and appear as individual atoms in our atmosphere?

Noble Gasses

What group of elements form salts with alkali metals?

Halogens

Inner transition metals are (easy/hard) to separate

easy