The Solar System: Multiple Choice Questions

1.
Which of the following is not one of Kepler’s Laws of planetary motion?
A) As a planet orbits the sun, it sweeps out equal areas in equal time.
B) The closer a planet is to the sun, the slower it moves in its orbit.
C) A planet’s orbit is an ellipse, with the sun at one focus.
D) The more distant a planet’s orbit is from the sun, the longer it takes to complete an orbit.
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Correct Answer(s):
B

2.
What are the three basic types of spectra?
A) Continuous, emission, absorption
B) Thermal, redshifted, blueshifted
C) Thermal, redshifted, emission
D) Continuous, absorption, blueshifted
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Correct Answer(s):
A

3.
According to the nebular theory of solar system formation, the collapse of the solar nebula caused the nebula to
A) Cool down, spin faster, and ball up.
B) Cool down, spin more slowly, and ball up.
C) Heat up, spin more slowly, and flatten out.
D) Heat up, spin faster, and flatten out.
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Correct Answer(s):
D

4.
What phenomenon, easily explained by a heliocentric model, was the reason for adding extra levels of complexity (like Ptolemy’s epicycles) to early models of the universe?
A) Eclipses
B) Seasons
C) Retrograde motion
D) The phases of Venus
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Correct Answer(s):
C

5.
Astronomers can use an object’s spectrum to identify its composition because
A) Every atom, molecule, and ion has a distinct spectral “fingerprint.”
B) The Doppler shift can tell us which way it’s moving.
C) A body emits most of its radiation at a wavelength that depends only on its temperature.
D) The brighter the lines, the heavier the element.
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Correct Answer(s):
A

6.
The terrestrial planets are small and rocky, while the jovian planets are large and gaseous because
A) The sun’s gravity pulled the heavier elements toward the center of the solar system.
B) There wasn’t any gas in the inner solar system.
C) The planets outside the frost line (jovian planets) had more materials from which to condense.
D) Heavy bombardment sent objects crashing into the terrestrial planets more often, breaking them up.
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Correct Answer(s):
C

7.
What factors determine the strength of the force of gravity between two bodies?
A) Masses of the bodies, and the square of the distance between them
B) Mass of the larger body, and the distance between them
C) Square of the masses of the bodies, and the distance between them
D) Mass of the smaller body, and the square of the distance between them
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Correct Answer(s):
A

8.
Comparing the thermal spectra of several stars, we find they have peaks in three different wave bands. Based on where their peaks are, which is the correct order, from hottest to coolest?
A) Infrared, red, yellow, blue, ultraviolet
B) Infrared, blue, yellow, red, ultraviolet
C) Ultraviolet, red, yellow, blue, infrared
D) Ultraviolet, blue, yellow, red, infrared
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Correct Answer(s):
D

9.
How did Newton’s discoveries impact Kepler’s laws?
A) He showed the first two laws apply only to planets in our solar system.
B) He showed that the only stable orbits are unbound ones.
C) His generalized version of the law p2 = a3 provides a way to calculate the masses of orbiting objects.
D) All of the above.
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Correct Answer(s):
C

10.
Thermal radiation tells us how hot an object is because
A) A body emits one specific spectral line that indicates temperature.
B) A body emits most of its radiation at a wavelength that depends only on its temperature.
C) Only hot objects emit visible light.
D) Only cool objects emit visible light.
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Correct Answer(s):
B
EORY