Benchmark #4

Question 1

What is the term “Big Bang” referring to?

Answer 1

The formation of all space, time, and matter.

Question 2

2.) When was the Big Bang?

Answer 2

13.7 billion years

Question 3

3.) How is the Doppler effect used to determine the motion of distant galaxies relative to our galaxy?

Answer 3

The color of the light emitted from a star is measures for shift (red or blue) to determine if it is moving toward or away.

Question 4

4.) If light from distant objects is blue-shifted, is the object moving towards or away from us? What if the light is red-shifted?

Answer 4

Toward. Away

Question 5

5.) According to our estimates, how many stars are there in the Milky Way Galaxy?

Answer 5

100 billion

Question 6

6.) What is a nebula?

Answer 6

Cloud of gas and dust in space.

Question 7

7.) What are four characteristics of a molecular cloud?

Answer 7

• Lumpy, with regions of varying density.
  - Particularly cold and dense.
  - Areas where stars are born.
  - Contain only a small percentage of heavier elements.

Question 8

What is a protostar?

Answer 8

The dense center of a collapsing molecular cloud fragment that occur during star formation.

Question 9

The collapse of a molecular cloud occurs due to what?

Answer 9

Gravity

Question 10

What is the difference between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission?

Answer 10

Fusion is the combining of nuclei and fission is the spitting of nuclei of elements.

Question 11

In what order of elements does the Sun burn through its fuel supply?

Answer 11

Hydrogen then helium then carbon

Question 12

What led scientists to conclude that our Sun is a second-generation star?

Answer 12

The presence of trace amounts of heavier element within the Sun that it isn’t able to produce.

Question 13

List the five characteristics used to classify stars:

Answer 13

• Age
  - Distance from the Earth
  - Color
  - Temperature
  - Apparent brightness

Question 14

How is our sun classified, according to the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram?

Answer 14

Main Sequence Star

Question 15

Be able to use the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram to match a description of a star to its corresponding location on the diagram (know how to read solar radius, lifetime of a star, surface temperature, star color, the “main sequence stars”, and luminosity)

Answer 15

know diagram

Question 16

What is the Nebular Theory? What does it describe?

Answer 16

The idea that the solar system was born from a cloud of gas, called the solar nebula. How the solar system was formed.

Question 17

According to Nebular Theory, what may have caused the initial collapse of the solar nebula?

Answer 17

A cataclysmic event such as a nearby star exploding.

Question 18

Know the following 5 steps, in order, that occurred in the prevailing theory of our solar system’s formation:

	1. A cataclysmic event initiates the collapse of the solar nebula.
	2. The temperature of the solar nebula begins to increase, as it rotates faster and flattens into a disc.
	3. Hydrogen and helium remain gaseous, but other materials can condense into solid "seeds."
	4. Temperature differences in the nebula cause terrestrial planets to form closer to the center of the nebula and gaseous planets to form farther out.
	5. Solar wind from the Sun blows remaining gas into interstellar space.

Answer 18

know these

Question 19

What are the three main processes that occurred during the formation of our solar system?

Answer 19

1. Heating
   2. Spinning
   3. Flattening

Question 20

Name three results of the processes involved in solar system formation.

Answer 20

1. Planet orbit the sun on nearly the same plane
   2. Most planets rotate the same direction
   3. The Sun rotates in the same direction as the planets

Question 21

What part of the relationship between the Sun and the Earth is responsible for the Earth’s seasons?

Answer 21

The angle of the Sun’s rays hitting the Earth.

Question 22

Are seasons determined by the distance from the Earth to the Sun?

Answer 22

NO

Question 23

How do the seasons of the Earth correspond to the months of the year in the Northern Hemisphere? The Southern Hemisphere?

Answer 23

Jan-March=winter, April-June= spring, July-Sept=summer, Oct-Dec=fall. Jan-March=summer, April-June=fall, July-Sept=winter, Oct-Dec=Spring

Question 24

Name three main aspects that are used to explain the cycle of lunar phases?

Answer 24

1. Moon is spherical in shape
   2. Moon is not self-luminous, but reflects the sunlight
   3. Moon circles the Earth once a month

Question 25

List the eight phases of the moon in the lunar cycle

Answer 25

1. new moon 2. waxing crescent 3. first quarter 4. waxing gibbous 5. full 6. wanning gibbous 7. third quarter 8. wanning crescent

Question 26

.) What are the tides on Earth caused by?

Answer 26

Gravitational relationship between the Earth, Sun, and Moon

Question 27

What is the main idea of the concept of continental drift?

Answer 27

The continents once formed part of a single landmass called a supercontinent (Pangaea)

Question 28

How far are the continents moving around the Earth each year?

Answer 28

Centimeters each year

Question 29

the thin outer shell of earth that consist of the crust and rigid part of the upper mantle.

Answer 29

lithosphere

Question 30

a deformable layer of the mantle that the lithosphere rides upon.

Answer 30

asthenosphere

Question 31

The lithosphere is broken into how many tectonic plates?

Answer 31

15

Question 32

The movement of tectonic plates are driven by what energy source?

Answer 32

Mantle convection caused by the outward transfer of Earth’s internal heat.

Question 33

two plates move toward each other (mountain range like Himalayan or deep trench)

Answer 33

Convergent boundaries

Question 34

two plates move away from each other (rift or fissure like the Mid-ocean ridge)

Answer 34

Divergent boundaries

Question 35

two plates slide past one another (San Andrea’s fault)

Answer 35

Transform boundaries

Question 36

List three sources of all energy on Earth:

Answer 36

1. geothermal energy 2. slow radioactive decay 3. energy from the Sun

Question 37

What happens to the material in stars when they die?

Answer 37

It returns to space and gets recycled into another star.

Question 38

A famous astronomer once described humans as being mad of “star stuff”. What did he mean by this statement?

Answer 38

We are made of elements that were created in a star.

Question 39

1. Describe the following structures based on their size. (Solar System, Universe, Galaxy, Nebula, Planet)

Answer 39

From largest to smallest we have the universe, galaxies, nebula, solar system, planet.

Question 40

2. Explain the difference between continental drift, sea-floor spreading, and the Theory of plate tectonics.

Answer 40

Continental drift (the idea that the continents were at one time all together in one super continent called Pangaea and have moved to their present day positions) and sea-floor spreading (new sea-floor is created at the Mid Ocean Ridge and it moves outward like a conveyer belt toward the edges) are ideas developed before plate Tectonics was considered. They both led to the development of the THEORY of plate tectonics.

Question 41

3. What are nebulae and what is their role in the life and death of stars? (3pts)

Answer 41

Nebula, large clouds of gas, provide the raw material needed for the formation of a solar system. When a star dies or blows up in a supernova it form a new nebula that could eventually form a new star.

Question 42

4. Do stars make lighter elements or heavier elements in their cores?

Answer 42

Stars use nuclear fusion to form heavier elements. Hydrogen atoms are combined to form the heavier Helium atoms. After all the hydrogen is converted to helium atoms. After all the hydrogen is converted to helium, the star converts helium into carbon. This process continues to make heavier and heavier elements.

Question 43

5. A famous astronomer once described humans as being made of “star stuff.” What did he mean by this statement?

Answer 43

The heavier elements found in our solar system could not have been created by our sun because it is too small. These elements MUST have come from a super massive star that blew up, creating our Solar nebula which eventually formed our solar system.

Question 44

6. Describe two possible consequences that could occur if we lost our moon.

Answer 44

The tilt of earth would change wildly, this would cause major climatic changes, and ocean levels would change rapidly flooding islands and costal cities. Earth would continually be hit by flying space bodies. There are many consequences that would occur if we lost the moon. First, we would be continually to hit the Earth. Also, our climates would drastically change because we would wobble on our axis.