Exam 2 Answers Flashcards
What atom classification does 14-6 C fall into?
Isotope
How much electrical charge does an atom with 8 protons, 9 neutrons, and 10 electrons have?
-2
Which of the following objects is not a close approximation of a thermal emitter: a star, the moon, you, a hot gas, or a lightbulb?
The moon is my
For the same size telescope, what wavelength will have the best angular resolution: visible, radio, microwave, infrared, or ultraviolet?
Ultraviolet
The bending of light as it enters a new medium is known as
Refraction
Which answer is not a requirement for a good location for an optical telescope: dark, arid, calm air, cloudy, or high elevation?
Cloudy
What type of telescope uses glazing incidence mirrors: radio, visible, gamma-ray, x-ray, or ultraviolet?
X-ray
The stars rise in the west on the surface of what planet?
Venus
What planet has vertical rings as viewed from the Earth?
Uranus
Which planet would float in a very large bath tub?
Saturn
Which planet has the highest average surface temperature?
Venus
What event created the elements heavier than Helium that were used to create the solar system?
Supernova
What is the time required for half an element to decay known as?
Half-life
What does an asteroid need to lose to become a captured moon?
Energy
What is the process by which an object gains matter or mass?
Accretion
Grass (that is healthy) looks green because it ________ green light and ________ other colors.
Reflects; absorbs
From longest wavelength to shortest wavelength, which of the following correctly orders the different categories of electromagnetic radiation?
Radio, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, x rays, gamma rays
The loss of an electron from a neutral helium atom results in
Ionized helium
When white light passes through a cool cloud of gas, we see
An absorption line spectrum
You observe a distant galaxy. You find that a spectral line normally found in the visible part of the spectrum is shifted toward the infrared. What do you conclude?
The Galaxy is moving away from you.
We can see each other in the classroom right now because we
Reflect visible light
How can an electron in an atom lose energy to go from a higher energy level to a lower energy level?
It releases a photon equal in energy to its own energy drop.
Suppose the angular separation of two stars is smaller than the angular resolution of your eyes. How will they appear to you?
The two stars will look like a single point of light.
Which of the following could not be determined by an observation that uses only spectroscopy: the size of a distant galaxy, the speed at which a distant galaxy is moving away from us, the surface temperature of a distant star, the chemical composition of a distant star, or the rotation rate of a distant star?
The size of a distant galaxy.
What is always true about images captured with X-ray telescopes?
They are always displayed in false color.
What causes stars to twinkle?
Bending of light rays by turbulent layers in the atmosphere.
Which telescope has the most light collecting area?
100 meter radio (biggest size)
What is the source of the Sun’s energy?
Mass-energy
Which of the following is farthest from the Sun: Neptune, a comet in the Kuiper Belt, as asteroid in the asteroid belt, a comet in the Oort Cloud, or Pluto?
A comet in the Oort Cloud
What is not an advantage of spacecraft flybys over ground-based telescope observations?
Spacecrafts can make highly detailed images of the planet and its moons.
True/False: Most planets orbit at the same speed.
False
True/False: All of the inner planets have substantial atmospheres.
False
Why did the solar nebula heat up as it collapsed?
As the cloud shrank, its gravitational potential energy was converted to thermal energy.
What happened during the accretion phase of the early solar system?
Particles grew by colliding and sticking together.
What origin do almost all of the large moons around the Jovian planets have?
They were formed by condensation and accretion in a disk of gas around the planet.
According to the nebular theory, what are asteroids and comets?
They are leftover planetesimals that never accreted into planets.
Which of these are unexplainable: the backward rotation of Venus, the formation of the Moon, the orbit of Triton in the opposite direction to Neptune’s, the large metallic core of Mercury, or the extreme axis tilt of Uranus?
The orbit of Triton in the opposite direction to Neptune’s rotation.
Was the young sun hotter and brighter than it is today?
No
What is unusual about our Moon?
It is surprisingly large relative to the planet it orbits.
What technology allows a single ground-based telescope to achieve images as sharp as those from the Hubble Space Telescope?
Adaptive optics
Compared to an atom as a whole, an atomic nucleus
Is very tiny but has most of the mass
What is it called when light travels through matter?
Transmission
Wave speed is a property of the ________ that the light is traveling through.
Medium/Object/Matter/Material
What fundamental force holds other he the electron and nucleus in an atom?
Electromagnetic force
What state of matter has no defined shape or volume?
Gas
What part of the eye focuses the light that enters the eye?
Lens
Name a range of light/electromagnetic radiation that is studied by space telescopes.
Anything but radio
How many mirrors does a refracting telescope have?
Zero
The technique of analyzing light by looking at the intensity of light for each wavelength/color is known as
Spectroscopy
What type of exploration mission can examine surface rocks without returning to Earth?
Landers
What object is a dirty ball of ice?
Comet
Name a planet in the solar system that has rings.
Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune
What element is the most abundant element in the Sun?
Hydrogen
What removed the extra debris from the solar system after the formation of the Sun?
Solar winds
What objects provided the water that is found on the present day Earth?
Comets or planetesimals
What technique is used to date rocks?
Radiometric dating
Name a planet in the solar system that has no moons.
Mercury
Which answer is not a primary color of light: green, blue, red, or yellow?
Yellow
