Practice Test #2
The following questions have been extracted from old
tests I have given for the class. I have been as complete
as possible and included some of essay questions that
are appropriate for the material.
You may also
The Earth's Interior and Geology
Lecture #14
1. True or false: Earthquake and volcanos usually occur near the boundaries
of two plates.
a. True
b. False
2. True or false: The plate techtonics is closely related to continental
drift.
a. True
b. False
3. True or false: The Earth's magnetosphere is probably formed by
convection and circulation in the Earth's core.
a. True
b. False
4. After 4 "half-lives", a radioactive substance will have only about
a. 4/2 of its original atoms.
b. 1/2 of its original atoms.
c. 1/4 of its original atoms.
d. 1/8 of its original atoms.
e 1/16 of its original atoms.
5. After 3 "half-lives", a radioactive substance will have only about
a. 4/2 of its original atoms.
b. 1/2 of its original atoms.
c. 1/4 of its original atoms.
d. 1/8 of its original atoms.
e 1/16 of its original atoms.
6. Suppose a radioactive element has a "half-life" of 300 years. After
600 years, how much of the original amount will be left?
a. 1/2
b. 1/4
c. 1/8
d. 1/16
e. twice
7. Uranium 238 has a half-life of about 4 billion years. How long will it
take for 3/4 of the Uranium to change into lead?
a. 2 billion years
b. 4 billion years
c. 6 billion years
d. 8 billion years
e. 178.5 billion years
8. Earthquakes occur
a. in the magnetosphere.
b. in the hydrosphere.
c. in the atmosphere.
d. in the lithosphere.
e. deep in the core of the Earth.
9. The approximate density of Earth is
a. 1.1 gm/cm3
b. 2.3 gm/cm3
c. 3.4 gm/cm3
d. 5.5 gm/cm3
e. 7.2 gm/cm3
10. Which of the following statements are FALSE?
a. The core of the Earth is liquid.
b. The density of the core of the Earth is greater than the average density
at the surface.
c. The motion of the Earth's core causes tides.
d. The Earth's core is made mainly of iron and nickel.
e. The Earth's core is hotter than the average temperature at the surface.
11. Which of the following does not cause erosion of surface features on
Earth?
a. water
b. ice
c. wind
d. rain
e. all of the above cause Erosion on Earth.
12. Which of the following processes affect(s) the Earth's surface?
a. impact cratering
b. volcanism
c. erosion
d. B and C, but not A
e. A, B, and C
13. All the processes of fracturing and movement of the Earth's crust are
called _________. But _________ refers to the effects of a sudden
cracking.
a. motion/sudden
b. motion/earthquake
c. tectonics/earthquake
d. earthquakes/tectonics
e. none of the above
14. Which of the following forces has not significantly changed the
surface of Earth during the last 100 million years?
a. water
b. ice
c. fire
d. plate tectonics
e. volcanos
15. The structure of the Earth's interior has been determined by
a. chemical analysis of rocks.
b. seismographic studies.
c. radioactive dating.
d. isotopic analysis of rocks on the Earth's surface.
e. crystalographic analysis of rocks.
The Earth's Atmosphere
Lecture #13
1. The "Runaway Greenhouse Effect" could occur if
a. excess Ozone causes global warming.
b. excess CO2 causes global warming.
c. the destruction of Ozone causes decreased ultraviolet protection.
d. all of the above.
2. Tidal forces on the Earth from the Moon are caused by
a. the equal pull of gravity from the Moon.
b. the fact that water is more strongly attracted to the Moon than dry land.
c. the force of gravity from the Moon being stronger on the side of Earth
nearest the Moon and being weaker on the side of Earth furthest from the
Moon.
d. Kepler's 4th law of motion.
e. the tidal forces on the Moon caused by Earth.
3. The rotation of the Earth is
a. speeding up as the Moon moves closer to the Earth.
b. speeding up as the Moon moves further from the Earth.
c. slowing down as the Moon moves closer to the Earth.
d. slows down as the Moon moves further from the Earth.
e. really annoys me and makes me sick on Sunday mornings.
4. Oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere was primarily:
a. outgassed from Volcano's on Earth.
b. trapped in the Earth's crust inside rocks.
c. created by plants on the Earth's surface.
d. locked inside the Earth's atmosphere by the Sun.
e. built from a kit.
5. MOST of the carbon dioxide in the Earth's Early atmosphere has
a. been used by plants.
b. been absorbed by animals.
c. formed into rocks.
d. escaped into space.
e. been eaten by my cat.
6. Based on the best available evidence, the amount of carbon dioxide in
the Earth's atmosphere seems to be
a. decreasing continuously .
b. remaining the same.
c. increasing continuously.
d. generally increasing, but decreasing in the last 5 years.
e. unmeasurable.
7. The Greenhouse Effect occurs because
a. infrared radiation is blocked by the atmosphere.
b. visible radiation is blocked by the atmosphere.
c. ultraviolet radiation is blocked by the atmosphere.
d. ultraviolet radiation is blocked by the Ozone layer.
e. a and d
8. Why is the sky blue?
a. Red light is scattered more easily than blue light by dust particles.
b. Blue is the color of nitrogen gas.
c. It reflects the color of the oceans.
d. The color of outer space is blue.
e. Blue light is more easily scattered than red light by dust particles.
Telescopes
Lectures #11, #12
1. True or false: When buying a telescope, the most important feature to
look for is high magnification.
a. True
b. False
2. The difference between a reflecting and a refracting telescope is
a. a refractor has a greater light gathering power than a reflector.
b. a refractor is a radio telescope and a reflector is an optical telescope.
c. a refractor uses an objective lens and a reflector uses an objective
mirror.
d. a refractor can be built much larger than a reflector.
e. there is no difference between the two types of telescopes.
3. Which of the following techniques has the highest resolution?
a. ground-based optical telescopes using CCD detectors
b. ground-based optical telescopes using photographic plates.
c. single dish radio telescopes.
d. VLBI observations.
e. all of the above have the same angular resolution.
4. Which of the following types of observations MUST be done above the
Earth's atmosphere?
a. radio
b. optical
c. X-ray
d. VLBI
e. all of the above can be done on the Earth.
5. Which of the following is the best way for professional astronomers to
obtain optical astronomical images?
a. photographic plates
b. CCD detectors
c. the human eye
d. VLBI
6. The two main reasons we use large telescopes for observations in
astronomy are:
a. magnification and light gathering power.
b. magnification and resolution.
c. magnfication and optical quality.
d. light gathering power and resolution.
e. none of the above.
7. The convection in the atmosphere which causes star images to be
unsteady is called
a. seeing
b. interfereometry
c. diffraction
d. collimation
8. The process of combining the information from two or more telescopes
to increase resolution is called
a. absorption
b. digitizing
c. false color process
d. interfereometry
e. spectrophotometry
9. Which of the following has the most light-gathering power?
a. a telescope with a 30-cm aperature and a 100-cm focal length
b. a telescope with a 25-cm aperature and a 100-cm focal length
c. a telescope with a 25-cm aperature and a 200-cm focal length
d. a telescope with a 10-cm aperature and a 50-cm focal length
10. The most useful property for a telescope which will be used for
spectroscopic observations of dim stars is
a. magnfication
b. resolution
c. light-gathering power
d. light weight
e. interferometry
11. Your next door neighbor's 10-year old daughter has found out that you
are taking an astronomy class. She wants your advice on buying a
telescope to look at the craters of the moon. Since you want to be a
helpful friend and encourage her interest in science, you should tell her to
buy a
a. telescope with high magnification.
b. telescope with a large diameter and light gathering power.
c. telescope telescope with good resolution.
d. small particle accelerator in the 5-10 MeV range.
e. doll.
12. Interferometry is the process that uses several small telescopes
separated by a large distance to
a. measure the spectra of dim stars and planets.
b. increase light gathering power to that of a telescope with a size equal
to the largest distance between the telescopes.
c. increase the resolution to that of a telescope with a size equal to the
largest distance between the telescopes.
d. increase the magnification to that of a telescope with a size equal to
the largest distance between the telescopes.
e. increase the sensitivity of photographic plates to that of a telescope
with a size equal to the largest distance between the telescopes.
EM Radiation and Light
Lectures #8, #9, #10
1. When you double the frequency of a wave, you
a. increase the wavelength by two.
b. decrease the wavelength by two.
c. increase the amplitude by two.
d. decrease the amplitude by two.
e. do not affect the amplitude or frequency of the wave.
2. Dark lines in a spectrum are known as _______ lines.
a. absorption
b. continuous
c. emission
d. hot
e. None of the above.
3. Wien's law states:
a. The cooler an object, the bluer the radition it emits.
b. The hotter an object, the bluer the radiation it emits.
c. The hotter an object, the redder the radiation it emits.
d. Temperature is proportional to energy.
e. Force is equal to mass times acceleration.
4. Blue light has a
a. shorter wavelength and a higher energy than red light.
b. longer wavelength and a higher energy than red light.
c. shorter wavelength and a lower energy than red light.
d. longer wavelength and a higher energy than red light.
e. None of the above.
5. X-rays have a
a. shorter wavelength and a higher energy than infrared radiation.
b. longer wavelength and a higher energy than visual light.
c. shorter wavelength and a lower energy than gamma-rays.
d. longer wavelength and a lower energy than radio waves.
e. none of the above.
6. The peak of a black-body (thermal) spectra for a 7000K object is
a. bluer than for a 5000K object.
b. redder than a 5000K object.
c. seen as an absorption spectra.
d. cannot be detected by any instrument.
e. none of the above.