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Exam One
ESC1000 - All the Questions From Exam 1
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| In a peer-review process, incorrect conclusions are eliminated as a vast majority accepts the best answer. If a scientific method is followed, a series of _____ are evaluated until a single _____ is accepted. | hypotheses and theory |
| Plate tectonics, biological evolution and the Big Bang are all examples of what? | scientific theories |
| Please remember that in the scientific method, scientific theories _____. | must be repeatedly tested and verified by observations and further data collection. |
| Which of the following is not an area of scientific research discussed in your Earth Science textbook? (geology, astronomy, oceanography, astrology, meteorology) | astrology |
| What scientist is involved in the study of climate and weather, as well as analysis of carbon dioxide gas concentrations in the atmosphere? | a meteorologist |
| What scientist is involved in the study of rocks brought back to Earth by the NASA Apollo astronauts? | a lunar geologist |
| What type of EM radiation has the LONGEST wavelength, and is therefore the LEAST dangerous? | radio wave radiation |
| What EM radiation has the SHORTEST wavelength, and is therefore the MOST dangerous? | gamma radiation |
| What four types of EM radiation is used to study the stars and galaxies? | radio waves, infrared radiation, visible light, and x-rays |
| The Earth’s sphere known as the _____ includes the world’s oceans and fresh water. | hydrosphere |
| What resource is an example of a renewable energy resource (most likely for billions of years)? | solar energy |
| What natural resources can be recycled easily by man, thus extending the lifetime of these metallic resources for some time into the future? | copper and aluminum |
| What natural resource is mined to make a metal essential for electricity transmission? | copper |
| The ancient Greek astronomers believed that _____. | the Earth is at the center of the Universe |
| Which astronomer was the first to develop a Sun-centered heliocentric Solar System model?? | Copernicus |
| Which astronomer proposed the Three Laws of Planetary Motion? | Kepler |
| What are the Three Laws of Planetary Motion? | The path of each planet around the Sun is actually an ellipse, with the Sun at one focus. Each planet revolves so that an imaginary line connecting it to the Sun sweeps over equal areas in equal intervals of time. The orbital periods of the planets and their distances to the Sun are proportional. |
| What scientist first discovered that the Sun has sunspots? | Galileo |
| Which moons of Jupiter were discovered by Galileo? | Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, and Io |
| Thanks to Sir Isaac Newton, we know that the _____ between two objects is directly proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two objects. This force controls the movement of everything in the Universe. | force of gravity |
| What theory is used to describe the origin of the Solar System? | Nebular theory |
| Approximately how old is the Solar System? About the time that contraction of the nebular cloud likely began. | 5 billion years old |
| After the origin of the Solar System, two major types of planets developed: the enormous, mostly gaseous _____ planets, and the small, mostly rocky _____ planets. | jovian and terrestrial |
| During the formation of the Solar System, the inner planets were unable to accumulate much hydrogen, ammonia, methane, and water from the original interstellar gas cloud because of their _____. | high temperatures and weak gravitational fields |
| Which planet still has a primitive unevolved atmosphere similar in chemical composition to the original nebular cloud? | Jupiter |
| One astronomical unit (1 AU) averages about what distance? | 93 million miles |
| If you were returning to the Solar System after a trip to the nearest star, which order would you encounter the planets assuming you’re returning to Earth? | Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Asteroid belt, Mars, Earth |
| NASA astronauts conducted experiments during the Apollo missions to the Moon that proved that the speed of light is _____. The distance light travels in one year is known as a _____. | 186,000 miles per second and light year |
| In the Apollo missions to the Moon, how many astronauts stayed in the command module while the other astronauts got to land and walk on the Moon’s surface? | One |
| True or False: The lunar highlands are believed to have formed by the eruption of thick lava flows that filled the large craters created by impact of large meteorites in the young lunar surface. | False |
| Which area of the moon contains the YOUNGEST rocks, a conclusion based on radiometric (isotopic) dating of rocks collected by astronauts? | the maria (lowlands) |
| What planet has the highest surface temperature? | Venus |
| What planet has the greatest temperature ranges of any planet in the Solar System? | Mercury |
| Most of what we know about this planet comes from the technology of radar mapping. This type of investigation is necessary because the atmosphere of this planet is so thick. | Venus |
| What gas makes up most of the atmosphere of Venus? | carbon dioxide |
| True or False: At this very moment, NASA has two rovers moving slowly across the Mars landscape, sending back data almost every day. | True |
| Which planet has the largest volcano (now thought to be extinct) discovered thus far in the Solar System? | Mars |
| Which planet’s atmosphere contains a Great Red Spot (most likely a cyclonic storm such as a large hurricane)? | Jupiter |
| The asteroid belt, which contains most of the Solar System asteroids, is found between which two planets? | Jupiter and Mars |
| The great canyon system on Mars, which is deeper than Earth’s Grand Canyon, is known as what? | Valles Marineris |
| Which planet has ice caps that change in size with the seasons? | Mars |
| Which planet was struck repeatedly by fragments of a comet in 1994, proving to humans that this can occur on any planet in the Solar System? | Jupiter |
| Which moon is the only satellite in the Solar System that exhibits sulfur-rich volcanic activity? | Io |
| Which moon of Jupiter has a surface of water ice that covers a slushy ocean of water? This moon has an incredibly smooth surface due to constant movement of the ice. | Europa |
| The name of the NASA and European Union spacecraft that recently explored Saturn is Cassini. This spacecraft, which took over six years to reach Saturn, released a smaller spacecraft called Huygens which then descended to the surface of a moon of Saturn called what? This spacecraft sent us the first photos of the surface of this moon, exposing large seas of liquid ethane and methane. | Titan |
| Which planet's axis lies eight (8) degrees from the plane of its orbit, making it look like it rolls through outer space as it orbits the sun? | Uranus |
| Which planet has extremely high wind speeds (up to 1,500 miles per hour), even at the top of its atmosphere? | Neptune |
| Most meteor showers are associated with the orbits of what? | comets |
| When examined closely, many comets exhibit two tails, what are they called? | ion tail and dust tail |
| Why do the tails of comets always point away from the Sun? | the Solar Wind |
| What occurs when the Earth is between the Moon and the Sun? | lunar eclipse |
| What occurs when the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun? | solar eclipse |
| Correctly describe the process whereby space rocks interact with the Earth and its atmosphere, as they move from outer space to the Earth’s surface? | meteoroid, meteor, meteorite |
| What is the most abundant meteorite type found on the Earth? | iron meteorites |
| The ___________ Search Committee searches for meteorites or comets that may collide with the Earth. | Near-Earth Object (NEO) |
| The nearest star to our Solar System is what? | Proxima Centauri |
| True or False. About 20 percent of observed stars are binary star systems; the other 80% are single star systems like our Sun, or more rarely, ternary star systems. | False |
| The discovery that the Universe is expanding was made by which astronomer? | Edwin Hubble |
| The discovery that the Universe is expanding, coupled with the discovery of a uniform background radiation level (an echo of the explosion), has led to the scientific theory called what? | the Big Bang |
| The age of the Universe, according to most astronomical measurements, is approximately what? | 13.8 billion years |
| Which of the following is the largest in terms of size? (a galaxy, a star, a nebulae, a gas giant planet like Jupiter, or a single black hole) | a galaxy |
| The _______________, where you live, is one of just __________ of galaxies in the Universe. | Milky Way Galaxy, billions |
| The visible light emitted by a galaxy or a star moving away from the Earth will be shifted towards ____ part of the EM spectrum, as explained by the _________. Most objects in the Universe (e.g., other galaxies) observed by astronomers are moving away from our galaxy. | the red to orange, the Doppler Effect |
| Collections of interstellar dust and gases are referred to as what? There are different types of these structures, all of which are described based on the way they affect EM radiation. | nebulae |
| What are the two most common elements (gases) in interstellar clouds? One such cloud likely condensed to form our Solar System, a conclusion supported by the fact that we can now observe (with NASA's Hubble telescope) this process occurring throughout our galaxy. | hydrogen and helium |
| During the process referred to as fusion (hydrogen burning), hydrogen atoms in the core of a star fuse together to become what kind atoms, and as a result, release a tremendous amount of energy? | helium |
| A graph showing the relationship between the true magnitude (brightness) and temperature of a star is called the what? A star’s life history can be traced on these diagrams. | Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram |
| True or False: The vast majority of stars spend most of their lifetimes as main sequence stars. | True |
| What star color is considered the hottest in terms of surface temperature? | blue |
| What star color is considered the coolest in terms of surface temperature? | red |
| What is the ultimate fate of a dying star that has a mass of our star, the Sun? | white dwarf |
| Describe the pathway of star evolution, assume that the star in question has a mass greater than 25 times that of our Sun. | gas nebulae, protostar, main sequence stage, red giant, supernova, black hole |
| What subatomic particle has a positive charge? | protons |
| The number of protons in an atom determines the _______, but the number of protons and neutrons in an atom determines the ______ of that element. | atomic number, mass number |
| Atoms which have variable mass numbers but the same atomic numbers are called what? | isotopes |
| The isotopes of what are used in human archaeology to determine ages of certain objects (e.g., charcoal from a fire, or human remains). Interestingly this isotopic age determination technique works back to about 75,000 years; after that the radioactive isotope decays so much it is no longer detectable. | carbon |
| The principle of radioactivity is used to do what three things? | determine the age of minerals and rocks, cure human diseases, and produce electric power |
| What element is mined to use in nuclear power plants to generate electricity? | uranium |
| The atomic number of this element is 92? | uranium |
| A _______ is any naturally occurring inorganic element or compound, with a definite internal arrangement of atoms and a chemical composition that is fixed or varies within narrow limits. | mineral |
| The specific gravity, or what of a mineral, such as pyrite, is a useful mineral identification property? | density |
| Due to trace amounts of metallic impurities in a crystal, the property of mineral what is often an unreliable diagnostic property? | color |
| The internal arrangement of atoms in a mineral are reflected in its outer what? This is another useful mineral identification property. | crystal form |
| What are the levels of the Mohs Hardness Scale? | Talc, Gypsum, Calcite, Flourite, Apatite, Feldspar, Quartz, Topaz, Corundum, Diamond |
| When the mineral corundum is a clear red color, it is referred to as ________, but when the same mineral is a clear blue color, it is referred to as _______. Both are example of precious gem stones. | ruby, sapphire |
| The tendency of minerals to break randomly is called _______, whereas the property of ______ describes when a mineral breaks along parallel planes. | fracture, cleavage |
| What mineral, when it is clear, produces a double image when light passes through it? This property is called double refraction. | calcite |
| The most abundant group of rock forming minerals in the planet is what? | silicates |
| Most silicate minerals form from what? | solidification of molten rock |
| An individual silicon-oxygen tetrahedron, the building block for silicate minerals, consists of what? | one atom of silicon and four atoms of oxygen |
| Calcite and dolomite are two common __________ minerals that make up much of Florida’s subsurface limestone and dolostone layers, which hold abundant critically important ground water reserves. | carbonate |
| What are the five most abundant elements in the Earth’s crustal rocks? | calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and oxygen |
| The temperature of the Earth increases with depth. The term that best describes this sentence is __________, which has an average value of ___ degrees Celsius per km. | geothermal gradient, 30 |
| What is the main source of this internal heat found in the Earth? | radioactive decay of elements such as uranium, thorium, and potassium |
| What is a rocky material that contains a metal, such as copper or gold, in such quantities that it can be mined and worked commercially to extract that metal for use by man.? | ore |
| What does a volcanologist call molten rock before it reaches the surface? | magma |
| What does a planetary volcanologist call molten rock flowing on the surface of Io, a moon of Jupiter? | lava |
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TManning81
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