Title Text: In Quest of the Universe, Fourth Edition
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Study Quizzes

Please read each question and select your answer from the choices provided. You must complete all of the questions in order to view your results. At the end of each exam, you have the option to e-mail your results to your instructor.


1:  In his model of the solar system Copernicus
A: put the Earth at the center.
B: included epicycles in order to explain retrograde motion.
C: included epicycles because he assumed that the planets move at constant speeds.
D: explained the Sun's apparent motion north and south of the Earth's equator by having the Sun's orbital plane around the Earth inclined by 23.5 degrees with respect to the equator.
E: (All of the above but C.)

2:  Tycho Brahe's main contribution to astronomy was
A: his support of the heliocentric system of Aristarchus.
B: his support of the geocentric system of Ptolemy.
C: his own model of the solar system in which the Sun revolved around the Earth but the rest of the planets revolved around the Sun.
D: his many accurate observations.
E: his observations of a supernova.

3:  Kepler's first law states that
A: planets move in elliptical orbits at constant speeds.
B: planets move in circular orbits around the Sun.
C: planets move faster when they are closer to the Sun.
D: a planet four times as far from the Sun as another takes eight times as long to orbit.
E: (None of the above.)

4:  Kepler's second law
A: allows us to find the relative distances of the planets from the Sun.
B: states that planets move in elliptical paths around the Sun.
C: planets move faster when they farther from the Sun.
D: states that planets do not move uniformly in their orbits.
E: (All of the above.)

5:  Kepler's third law
A: allows us to find the relative distances of the planets from the Sun.
B: relates a planet's average distance from the Sun to the planet's synodic period.
C: allowed Kepler to find the actual distances of the planets from the Sun.
D: a planet four times as far from the Sun as another takes four times as long to orbit.
E: (Both A and D.)

6:  Suppose an asteroid is discovered with an elliptical orbit, a period of 8 years, and perihelion of 0.5 AU from the Sun. Using Kepler's third law, how far from the Sun is this asteroid when at aphelion?
A: 4 AU
B: 7.5 AU
C: 4.5 AU
D: 8.5 AU
E: 8 AU

7:  Assume that a tenth planet was discovered with a sidereal period of 27 years. Also assume that its orbit around the Sun is approximately circular. Using Kepler's third law find the planet's distance from the Sun.
A: 27 AU
B: 9 AU
C: 81 AU
D: 1 AU
E: 3 AU

8:  Which of the following is an accurate description of Kepler's third law?
A: A planet's radius is related to its rotational period.
B: The time it takes a planet to revolve around the Sun is related to the planet's radius.
C: The greater the orbit of a planet around the Sun, the longer it takes the planet to complete a revolution.
D: The smaller the orbit of a planet around the Sun, the longer it takes the planet to complete a revolution.
E: (None of the above.)

9:  The Copernican model of the heavens differed from that of the ancient Greeks in that in the Copernican model
A: the Earth was at the center of the universe.
B: the planets moved in elliptical orbits.
C: the planets moved in circular orbits.
D: epicycles were not needed.
E: (None of the above.)

10:  Tycho Brahe
A: built better astronomical instruments.
B: observed a supernova.
C: suggested a model for the solar system that was a mix between the models of Ptolemy and Copernicus.
D: (Both A and B but not C.)
E: (All of the above.)

11:  Ptolemy introduced epicycles in his model in order to explain
A: the Earth's precession.
B: the Moon's phases.
C: the seasons.
D: lunar eclipses.
E: the observed retrograde motions of the planets.

12:  Eratosthenes was able to measure the Earth's radius
A: by measuring the time it takes the Moon to go through the Earth's shadow during a lunar eclipse.
B: by measuring the length of shadows at two different locations on Earth a known distance apart.
C: by first measuring the Earth's circumference (simply by walking around the Earth) and then dividing by 2p.
D: by first comparing the relative sizes of the Moon and Sun.
E: (The statement is false; Aristarchus was the first to measure the Earth's radius.)

13:  One of the reasons that Aristarchus' heliocentric model was not accepted was that
A: it could not explain why parallax was not observed.
B: his calculations were off by a factor of 20.
C: he considered the Earth to be at the center of the solar system.
D: he was not liked by Aristotle.
E: (The statement is false; Aristarchus did not propose a model for the solar system, he was simply the first to measure the Earth's radius.)

14:  The observation that supports the idea that the Earth revolves around the Sun is
A: the rising and setting of the Sun.
B: the existence of daytime and nighttime on Earth.
C: the fact that the angle between the planes of the celestial equator and the ecliptic is not zero (it is 23.5 degrees).
D: the difference in temperatures between winter and summer.
E: the observation of parallax for stars.

15:  In order for a scientific hypothesis to be valid, there must be a way for proving it
A: right.
B: wrong.

16:  Which of the following is a scientific hypothesis?
A: The Moon's surface is made of cheese.
B: Intelligent life (beyond Earth) exists in the universe.
C: Einstein was the greatest physicist in the 20th century.
D: The study of atoms is less important than the study of the evolution of the universe.

17:  Which of the following is not a characteristic of a valid scientific theory?
A: It may not be correct in the future.
B: It makes predictions that can be tested.
C: It is based on observations and experiments.
D: It describes the absolute truth.

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