Chapter 1 Our Place in the Universe Test Bank Answers

Chapter 1: Our Place in the Universe

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1.1 Astronomy Gives Us a Universal Context

1.1a List our cosmic address.

1.1b Differentiate the various components of our cosmic address.

1.1c List the types of objects found in our Solar System.

1.1d List the means by which we explore our universe.

1.1e Relate astronomical distances with the travel time of light.

1.2 Science is a Way of Viewing the World

1.2a Compare the everyday and scientific meanings of theory.

1.2b Compare an idea with a hypothesis.

1.2c Explain what makes a scientific theory falsifiable.

1.2d Describe the steps of the scientific method.

1.2e Assess whether a given idea or explanation is scientific.

1.2f Understand the cosmological principle and Occam’s razor.

1.3 Astronomers Use Mathematics to Find Patterns

1.3a Determine the slope of a line.

1.3b Interpret data from a graph.

1.3c Determine the relation of mathematics and science.

Working It Out 1.1

Working It Out 1.1a Differentiate among the metric units nano, micro, milli, centi, and kilo.

Working It Out 1.1b Write numbers in both scientific and standard notation.

Working It Out 1.1c Convert between different units of length, time, and speed.

Chapter 1: Our Place in the Universe

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Which of the following is the largest structure?

a. Laniakea Supercluster c. Local Group

b. Virgo Supercluster d. Milky Way Galaxy

2. Our place in the universe is

a. a location and a time. c. at its edge.

b. at its center. d. between the center and the edge.

3. We are located approximately

a. at the center of the Milky Way.

b. near the center of the Milky Way.

c. halfway out from the center of the Milky Way.

d. at the farthest outskirts of the Milky Way.

4. Light from the Sun takes about __________ to reach Earth.

a. 8 seconds c. 8 hours

b. 8 minutes d. 8 years

5. If an event were to take place on the Sun, how long would it take for the light to reach us?

a. 8 minutes c. 1 second

b. 11 hours d. 1 day

6. After the Sun, the next nearest star to us is approximately __________ away.

a. 4 light-seconds c. 4 light-hours

b. 4 light-minutes d. 4 light-years

7. One of the nearest stars is Alpha Centauri, whose distance is 4.4 light-years. The time it takes light to travel from Alpha Centauri to us is

a. 1.25 seconds. c. 4.4 years.

b. 8.3 minutes. d. 600 years.

8. The distance to the nearest, large, spiral galaxy, Andromeda, is 2.5 million light-years. How long does it take light to travel from us to Andromeda?

a. 360 years c. 4.5 billion years

b. 1.2 thousand years d. 2.5 million years

9. The early universe was composed mainly of which two elements?

a. hydrogen and helium c. hydrogen and oxygen

b. carbon and oxygen d. carbon and iron

10. Our universe is approximately __________ years old.

a. 14 million c. 14 trillion

b. 14 billion d. 14 thousand

11. The number of planets in the Solar System is

a. 8. c. 12.

b. 9. d. 6.

12. Which of the following most closely approximates the number of stars in the Milky Way?

a. 10 million c. 10 billion

b. 100 million d. 100 billion

13. Which of the following most closely approximates the number of stars in the Solar System?

a. 1 c. 10 billion

b. 2 d. 100 billion

14. What is the closest star to the Earth?

a. Alpha Centauri c. the Sun

b. Proxima Centauri d. Eta Carinae

15. What is the closest star to the Sun?

a. Alpha Centauri c. the Sun

b. Proxima Centauri d. Eta Carinae

16. Which space mission or craft has probed the farthest from the Earth?

a. New Horizons c. Apollo 15

b. Curiosity d. Voyager 1

17. Which space mission is associated with this image?

a. New Horizons c. Apollo 15

b. Curiosity d. Voyager 1

18. Which space mission is associated with this image?

a. New Horizons c. Apollo 15

b. Curiosity d. Voyager 1

19. The speed of light is about

a. 20 km/s. c. 300,000 km/s.

b. 30,000 km/s. d. 5 million km/s.

20. A light-year is a unit of measurement for

a. time. c. mass.

b. speed. d. distance.

21. The most massive elements (such as those of the rocky planets like Earth) were formed

a. in the early universe. c. through meteor collisions.

b. inside stars and supernovae. d. in the core of Earth.

22. If you were to specify your address in the universe, listing your membership from the smallest to largest physical structures, it would be

a. Earth, Local Group, Solar System, Andromeda, the universe.

b. Earth, Solar System, Local Group, Milky Way, the universe.

c. Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, Local Group, Virgo Supercluster, the universe.

d. Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, Fornax Supercluster, the universe.

23. If the diameter of our galaxy is approximately 100,000 light-years and our Solar System’s diameter is about 10 light-hours, our galaxy is (rounded up) __________ times larger than our Solar System.

a. 100 c. 10⁶

b. 10⁴ d. 10⁸

24. The Local Group is the environment around

a. the Sun that contains about a dozen stars.

b. the Milky Way that contains a few dozen galaxies.

c. the Sun that contains more than a billion stars.

d. the Milky Way that contains a few thousand galaxies.

25. Which of the following is true?

a. The Local Group is a member of the Virgo Supercluster, which contains thousands of galaxies.

b. The Local Group contains dozens of large spiral galaxies and a few dozen dwarf galaxies.

c. Our Solar System has nine planets.

d. The Milky Way Galaxy contains approximately 100 million stars.

26. Measuring distances in the amount of time it takes light to travel, if the circumference of Earth is a snap of your fingers, the diameter of the Solar System is approximately equal to

a. the length of a quick lunch. c. the time between sunrise and sunset.

b. the time to turn a page in a book. d. the time you spent in high school.

27. Which statement is true?

a. Twenty-four men have walked on the Moon.

b. Spacecraft have landed on all eight planets.

c. Spacecraft have landed on a comet and an asteroid.

d. Spacecraft have landed on Titan and Pluto.

28. Which of the following is found at a distance of 4.2 light-years from the Sun?

a. Earth c. Proxima Centauri

b. Pluto d. the Andromeda Galaxy

29. Which of the following is found at a distance of 2.5 million light-years from the Sun?

a. Earth c. Proxima Centauri

b. Pluto d. the Andromeda Galaxy

30. Which of the following forms of light observed by astronomers is the lowest in energy?

a. gamma rays c. visible

b. X-rays d. radio

31. A scientific theory can be proved wrong if

a. cultural beliefs evolve to contradict it.

b. scientists gather new data that disprove its predictions.

c. it cannot explain all phenomena.

d. it is based only on conjecture.

32. A hypothesis may become a theory

a. after many repeated attempts to falsify it fail.

b. if a majority of scientists agree on its propositions.

c. after it has been logically proved.

d. if it makes at least one verifiable prediction.

33. Which of the following is true?

a. All choices are true.

b. If continual testing of a hypothesis shows it to be valid, it may become an accepted theory.

c. A hypothesis must always have one or more testable predictions.

d. A scientific theory may eventually be proved wrong when scientists acquire new data.

34. The scientific method is a process by which scientists

a. prove theories to be known facts.

b. gain confidence in theories by failing to prove them wrong.

c. show all theories to be wrong.

d. test the ideas of Aristotle.

35. A __________ becomes a __________ when repeated testing of its predictions does not disprove it.

a. hypothesis; scientific method c. phenomenon; theory

b. theory; scientific revolution d. hypothesis; theory

36. The cosmological principle states that

a. the universe is expanding in all directions at the same rate.

b. a unique center of the universe exists.

c. there are no special locations or directions in the universe.

d. physical laws may change from place to place in the universe.

37. __________ is the idea that the simplest explanation for a phenomenon is usually the correct one.

a. Newton’s hypothesis c. Aristotle’s test

b. Occam’s razor d. Einstein’s excuse

38. One of the central assumptions in astronomy is that the physical laws of nature

a. change when objects move at high speed.

b. change throughout the age of the universe.

c. depend on the mass of the objects involved.

d. are the same everywhere in the universe.

39. The statement “our universe is but one of a multitude of isolated universes” is best characterized as a

a. speculative but unscientific idea because it is not testable and therefore not falsifiable.

b. scientific fact.

c. physical law.

d. hypothesis that is currently being tested.

40. The language of science is

a. Greek. c. Latin.

b. mathematics. d. Java.

41. What are the speeds of the car at points a, b, and c as indicated by the graph in the following figure?

a. 0.5 miles per minute, 0.5 miles per minute, 0 miles per minute

b. 0.5 miles per minute, 0.5 miles per minute, 0.25 miles per minute

c. 0.5 miles per minute, 0.7 miles per minute, 0.56 miles per minute

d. 0.5 miles per minute, 0.7 miles per minute, 0 miles per minute

42. Examine the following image. What part of the data plotted has a zero slope?

a. a to b c. a to c

b. b to c d. c to car

43. Examine the following image. What part of the data plotted has a nearly constant and positive slope?

a. a to b c. a to c

b. b to c d. c to car

44. Examine the following image. Which statement about the slopes in the plotted data is true?

a. Some are positive.

b. Some are negative.

c. All are zero.

d. All are negative.

e. All are positive.

45. Examine the following image. What would a line sloping from the upper left to the lower right mean?

a. The car is approaching. c. The car is moving away.

b. The car is slowing down. d. The car is speeding up.

46. How many nanometers are in a millimeter?

a. 100 c. 1,000,000

b. 1,000 d. 1,000,000,000

47. Scientific notation allows us to

a. write very large and very small numbers in a convenient way.

b. talk about science in an easy way.

c. change easy calculations into hard calculations.

d. explain science to engineers.

48. How many powers of 10 does the size of the visible universe span (in light-years)?

a. 13.8 c. 9

b. 1 billion d. 10

49. Write 3,800,000,000 in scientific notation.

a. 3.8 × 10⁸ c. 3.8 × 10^–8

b. 3.8 × 10⁹ d. 3.8 × 10^–9

50. Write 0.00000037 in scientific notation.

a. 3.7 × 10^–7 c. 37 × 10⁶

b. 37 × 10^–6 d. 3.7 × 10⁷

51. Approximately how many feet are in 2 meters?

a. 1.3 c. 6

b. 4 d. 12

52. Approximately how many meters are in 9 ft?

a. 3 c. 12

b. 4 d. 36

1. What is the ONLY thing that makes the Sun an exceptional star?

2. Describe the location of the Sun in the Milky Way Galaxy.

3. Describe the shape, size, and composition of the Milky Way Galaxy.

4. Name five places where people or space probes have visited beyond Earth.

5. If the elements that make up Earth and our bodies were not present in the early universe, where did they come from?

6. Why might the universe be described as a sort of “time machine”?

7. What is the Local Group?

8. Describe how talking about time can give us a feeling for distance.

9. Refer to the following figure and explain how time can describe distance and the significance of this particular time.

10. The following figure shows images representing our place in the universe. Label each box with its appropriate location.

11. Suppose you were writing to a pen pal across the universe. What address would you put on the envelope that included all the major structures in which we reside? (Hint: Your cosmic address should begin with “Earth” and end with “the universe.”)

12. Name three dwarf planets.

13. Describe briefly why the phrase “we are stardust” is literally true.

14. Describe the two main aspects of the cosmological principle.

1. What we see around us is representative of what the universe is like in general.

2. The physical laws valid on Earth are valid everywhere.

DIF: Easy REF: 1.2

OBJ: 1.2f Understand the cosmological principle and Occam’s razor.

MSC: Remembering

15. In pre-Renaissance times, it was believed that celestial objects were made of a different substance than Earth and obeyed different rules. Which modern scientific principle is a better description of the universe?

16. Why does a theory that continues to be supported by the results of experimental tests need further tests?

17. Describe the main steps involved in the scientific method.

18. Referring to the plot in this figure, what is the relationship between the speed of the car and the slope of the graph?

19. What are the three key pieces of a graph and where are they located?

20. What is an example of an independent variable of a graph and where is it located? What makes it independent?