Test Bank with Answers | Chapter 15 The Nature of the Solar System 8e

View Product website:

https://selldocx.com/docx/test-bank-with-answers-chapter-15-the-nature-of-the-solar-system-8e-1210

Foundations of Earth Science, 8e (Lutgens/Tarbuck/Tasa)

Chapter 15 The Nature of the Solar System

15.1 Multiple Choice Questions

1) In the Ptolemaic (Greek) model of the universe, ________.

A) Earth was flat

B) Earth was at the center of the universe

C) the Sun was at the center of the solar system

D) Earth rotated on its axis to produce night and day

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.1 Ancient Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.1

ESLI: 1.6 Earth scientists construct models of Earth and its processes that best explain the available geologic evidence.

2) Most of the time, the planets appear to move eastward. However, the occasional apparent westward "drift" of the planets compared to the background stars is called ________.

A) Ptolemaic motion

B) occultation

C) precession

D) retrograde motion

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.1 Ancient Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.1

ESLI: 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms.

3) If gravity were somehow eliminated, Earth would ________.

A) spiral inward toward the sun

B) spiral outward away from the sun

C) move in a straight line toward the sun

D) move in a straight line out into space

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.2 The Birth of Modern Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.2

ESLI: 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms.

4) ________ gave Galileo a huge advantage over his astronomical predecessors.

A) Use of a telescope

B) Unadulterated genius

C) The fresh perspective of Copernicus's ideas about a geocentric universe

D) Newton's laws of motion

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.2 The Birth of Modern Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.2

ESLI: 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms.

5) The nebular theory proposes the sun and planets formed from a rotating cloud of interstellar gases and dust called a ________.

A) solar nebula

B) planetesimal

C) protoplanet

D) celestial sphere

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms.

6) Approximately how much further away from the sun is Saturn, as compared to Earth?

A) 5 times as far

B) 10 times as far

C) 25 times as far

D) 50 times as far

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

7) One astronomical unit (AU) is equal to approximately ________.

A) 100 million kilometers (62 million miles)

B) 150 million kilometers (93 million miles)

C) 200 million kilometers (124 million miles)

D) 250 million kilometers (155 million miles)

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.2 The Birth of Modern Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.2

ESLI: 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms.

8) Which of the following is an example of a terrestrial planet?

A) Neptune

B) Saturn

C) Jupiter

D) Venus

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

9) How did the lunar maria most likely originate?

A) Huge impact basins that were nearly filled with basaltic lava flows

B) Huge impact craters filled with frozen carbon dioxide and dark-colored silt and dust

C) Massive, basaltic comets melted when they hit the lunar surface.

D) The solar wind eroded very wide, shallow basins that filled with lunar dust.

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.4 Earth's Moon: A Chip Off the Old Block

Focus/Concepts: 15.4

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

10) The moon's light-colored areas are called ________.

A) Olympian fields

B) lunar highlands

C) lunar maria

D) lunar lava flats

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.4 Earth's Moon: A Chip Off the Old Block

Focus/Concepts: 15.4

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

11) Nicolaus Copernicus was the first astronomer to propose ________.

A) retrograde motion

B) an astronomical unit

C) the nebular theory

D) a sun-centered universe

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.2 The Birth of Modern Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.2

ESLI: 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms.

12) Three laws of planetary motion were discovered by ________.

A) Sir Isaac Newton

B) Johannes Kepler

C) Tycho Brahe

D) Nicolaus Copernicus

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.2 The Birth of Modern Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.2

ESLI: 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms.

13) Most of the moon's craters were produced by ________.

A) the impact of meteoroids

B) volcanic eruptions

C) faulting

D) inertia

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.4 Earth's Moon: A Chip Off the Old Block

Focus/Concepts: 15.4

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

14) Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in the solar system, is found on ________.

A) Earth

B) Venus

C) Jupiter

D) Mars

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.5 Terrestrial Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.5

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

15) Which planet revolves around the sun the fastest?

A) Mercury

B) Venus

C) Earth

D) Mars

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.5 Terrestrial Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.5

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

16) Which of the following rotates in the opposite direction around its axis compared to other planets?

A) Mercury

B) Venus

C) Earth

D) Mars

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.5 Terrestrial Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.5

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

17) Valles Marineris, a series of vast canyons on Mars, most likely formed by ________.

A) volcanic eruptions

B) meteorite impacts

C) down-faulting

D) massive storms

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.5 Terrestrial Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.5

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

18) The dominant force currently shaping the Martian surface is ________.

A) wind erosion

B) stream erosion

C) meteorite impacts

D) glacier movement

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.5 Terrestrial Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.5

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

19) ________ are small, extraterrestrial particles that glow brightly and burn up as they travel through Earth's atmosphere.

A) Meteoroids

B) Moons

C) Meteorites

D) Asteroids

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.7 Small Solar System Bodies

Focus/Concepts: 15.7

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

20) Which of the following is a dwarf planet?

A) Venus

B) Mercury

C) Pluto

D) Europa

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.7 Small Solar System Bodies

Focus/Concepts: 15.7

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

21) The immense gravitational compression exerted by Jupiter releases heat that ________.

A) powers immense storms

B) triggers volcanic eruptions

C) imparts retrograde motion

D) produces a mighty ring system

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.6 Jovian Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.6

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

22) Which of the following moons exhibits cryovolcanism?

A) Triton

B) Enceladus

C) Ceres

D) Io

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.6 Jovian Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.6

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

23) In the Ptolemaic system, planets orbited in small circles called ________ while revolving along large circles called ________.

A) retrograde motion; inertia

B) epicycles; deferents

C) epicycles; referents

D) celestial spheres; epicycles

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.1 Ancient Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.1

ESLI: 1.6 Earth scientists construct models of Earth and its processes that best explain the available geologic evidence.

24) Surrounding a comet's nucleus is the broad, glowing area called the ________.

A) head

B) tail

C) coma

D) belt

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.7 Small Solar System Bodies

Focus/Concepts: 15.7

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

25) It has been estimated that Halley's Comet, which has an orbital period of 76 years, has a mass of 100 billion tons. Furthermore, it is estimated to lose about 100 million tons of material when its orbit brings it close to the sun. The maximum remaining life span of Halley's Comet is ________.

A) 76,000 years

B) 760 years

C) 7.6 years

D) 760,000 years

Diff: 2

Bloom's Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.7 Small Solar System Bodies

Focus/Concepts: 15.7

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

26) Asteroid-sized bodies that collide and accumulate together, ultimately forming planets are called ________.

A) planetesimals

B) protoplanets

C) minerals

D) meteorites

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

27) The Cassini gap is associated with the planet ________.

A) Mars

B) Saturn

C) Jupiter

D) Neptune

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.6 Jovian Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.6

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

28) Saturn's well-developed rings are made of ________.

A) interstellar gases

B) water vapor

C) numerous particles of water ice and rocky debris

D) frozen methane

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.6 Jovian Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.6

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

29) ________ is the only planet in the solar system whose axis of rotation lies close to the plane of the solar system.

A) Uranus

B) Venus

C) Ceres

D) Jupiter

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.6 Jovian Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.6

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

30) The law of universal gravitation was formulated by ________.

A) Sir Isaac Newton

B) Galileo Galilei

C) Tycho Brahe

D) Johannes Kepler

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.2 The Birth of Modern Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.2

ESLI: 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms.

31) ________ is the apparent shift in the position of a nearby star when viewed from extreme points in Earth's orbit six months apart.

A) Retrograde motion

B) Universal gravitation

C) Inertia

D) Stellar parallax

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.2 The Birth of Modern Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.2

ESLI: 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms.

32) The ________ motion of some of Jupiter's moons indicates that they were likely captured due to the planet's immense gravity.

A) inertial

B) prograde

C) retrograde

D) celestial sphere

Diff: 2

Bloom's Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.6 Jovian Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.6

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

33) In addition to Earth, the planet ________ shows clear evidence of water erosion.

A) Mercury

B) Ceres

C) Mars

D) Venus

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.5 Terrestrial Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.5

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

34) The view that the sun is the center of the solar system is called a ________.

A) geocentric model

B) heliocentric model

C) celestial sphere

D) retrograde model

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.1 Ancient Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.1

ESLI: 1.6 Earth scientists construct models of Earth and its processes that best explain the available geologic evidence.

35) ________ was the first astronomer to track sunspot movement with the aid of a telescope.

A) Sir Isaac Newton

B) Galileo Galilei

C) Tycho Brahe

D) Johannes Kepler

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.2 The Birth of Modern Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.2

ESLI: 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms.

36) ________ states an object at rest stays at rest and objects in motion stay in motion unless either is acted upon by an outside force.

A) The law of universal gravitation

B) Retrograde motion

C) Inertia

D) Nebular theory

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.2 The Birth of Modern Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.2

ESLI: 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms.

37) ________ states every body in the universe attracts every other body with a force that is directly proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

A) The law of universal gravitation

B) Retrograde motion

C) Inertia

D) Nebular theory

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.2 The Birth of Modern Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.2

ESLI: 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms.

38) The material expelled when a meteorite strikes the surface of a planet is called ________ and it creates a(n) ________.

A) ejecta; impact crater

B) planetesimal; impact crater

C) a celestial sphere; comet

D) comet; asteroid

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

39) The soil-like layer of the moon composed of igneous rocks, breccia, glass beads, and fine lunar dust is called ________.

A) lunar regolith

B) lunar highlands

C) maria

D) impact craters

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.4 Earth's Moon: A Chip Off the Old Block

Focus/Concepts: 15.4

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

40) The impact model of moon formation states the moon formed approximately ________.

A) 250 million years ago

B) 9 billion years ago

C) 4.5 billion years ago

D) 14 billion years ago

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.4 Earth's Moon: A Chip Off the Old Block

Focus/Concepts: 15.4

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

41) Which of the following planets exhibits an extreme greenhouse effect?

A) Mercury

B) Ceres

C) Mars

D) Venus

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.5 Terrestrial Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.5

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

42) ________ are examples of small solar system bodies.

A) Comets

B) Moons

C) Planetesimals

D) Satellites

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.7 Small Solar System Bodies

Focus/Concepts: 15.7

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

43) The small central part of a comet is called the ________.

A) head

B) tail

C) coma

D) nucleus

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.7 Small Solar System Bodies

Focus/Concepts: 15.7

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

44) The initial velocity an object needs to break free from the surface of a celestial body is called ________.

A) retrograde velocity

B) terminal velocity

C) inertial velocity

D) escape velocity

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

45) The term for a star that is explosively ejecting gases from its surface is a(n) ________.

A) celestial sphere

B) nova or supernova

C) inertia

D) retrograde motion

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.1 Ancient Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.1

ESLI: 1.6 Earth scientists construct models of Earth and its processes that best explain the available geologic evidence.

46) During the formation of the moon, it is believed the ________ was the last phase.

A) filling of maria basins

B) excavation of large impact basins

C) formation of rayed craters

D) formation of the original crust

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.4 Earth's Moon: A Chip Off the Old Block

Focus/Concepts: 15.4

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

15.2 Matching Questions

Match the planet with its correct description.

A) has mass 2.5 times greater than the combined mass of all other planets

B) one of the windiest planets; has five named rings

C) contains the largest known volcano in the solar system

D) has the greatest temperature extremes

E) not large enough to sweep debris in its orbit; first dwarf planet

F) largest known object in the asteroid belt

G) retrograde motion compared to other planets

H) rotation is "sideways"

I) has many rings circling the planet

1) Mercury

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.5 Terrestrial Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.5

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

2) Venus

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.5 Terrestrial Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.5

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

3) Mars

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.5 Terrestrial Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.5

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

4) Jupiter

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.6 Jovian Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.6

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

5) Saturn

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.6 Jovian Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.6

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

6) Uranus

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.6 Jovian Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.6

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

7) Neptune

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.6 Jovian Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.6

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

8) Ceres

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.7 Small Solar System Bodies

Focus/Concepts: 15.7

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

9) Pluto

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.7 Small Solar System Bodies

Focus/Concepts: 15.7

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

Answers: 1) D 2) G 3) C 4) A 5) I 6) H 7) B 8) F 9) E

Match the object with the correct description.

A) rotating cloud of interstellar gases

B) terrestrial Earth-like planets

C) depression that forms from collisions with asteroids and comets

D) asteroid-sized objects

E) asteroid-sized objects that collide to make larger bodies

F) a planet's inclination with respect to the Earth-sun orbital plane

G) Jovian planets

10) solar nebula

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

11) ecliptic

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

12) planetesimals

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

13) protoplanets

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

14) inner planets

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

15) outer planets

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

16) impact craters

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G2

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

Answers: 10) A 11) F 12) D 13) E 14) B 15) G 16) C

15.3 Essay Questions

1) Galileo made numerous contributions to the science of astronomy. Discuss two of them in detail.

1. The discovery of Jupiter's four largest satellites, or moons (Figure 15.13). This finding dispelled the old idea that Earth was the sole center of motion in the universe; for here, plainly visible, was another center of motion–Jupiter. It also countered the frequently used argument that the moon would be left behind if Earth revolved around the sun.

2. The discovery that the planets are circular disks rather than just points of light, as was previously thought. This indicated that the planets must be Earth-like as opposed to star-like.

3. The discovery that Venus exhibits phases just as the moon does and that Venus appears smallest when it is in full phase and thus is farthest from Earth. This observation demonstrates that Venus orbits its source of light–the sun. In the Ptolemaic system, the orbit of Venus lies between Earth and the sun, which means that only the crescent phases of Venus should ever be seen from Earth.

4. The discovery that the moon's surface is not a smooth glass sphere, as the ancients had proclaimed. Rather, Galileo saw mountains, craters, and plains, indicating that the moon is Earth-like. He thought the plains might be bodies of water, and this idea was strongly promoted by others, as we can tell from the names given to these features (Sea of Tranquility, Sea of Storms, etc.).

5. The discovery that the sun (the viewing of which may have caused the eye damage that later blinded him) had sunspots–dark regions caused by slightly lower temperatures. He tracked the movement of these spots and estimated the rotational period of the sun as just under a month. Hence, another heavenly body was found to have both "blemishes" and rotational motion. Each of these observations eroded a bedrock principle held by the prevailing view on the nature of the universe.

Diff: 1

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G7

Section: 15.2 The Birth of Modern Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.2

ESLI: 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms.

2) How is Earth unique compared to other planets in our solar system? How is it similar? And finally, what geologic information might we obtain by visiting Mars or Venus that would further link Earth to these planets?

Diff: 3

Bloom's Taxonomy: Evaluating/Creating

Global Sci Out: G7

Section: 15.5 Terrestrial Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.5

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

3) Why are meteorites a possible source of information regarding the origin and composition of Earth?

Diff: 2

Bloom's Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing

Global Sci Out: G7

Section: 15.7 Small Solar System Bodies

Focus/Concepts: 15.7

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

4) Of the other seven planets in our solar system, which is most likely to host Earth-like life? Explain.

An alternate answer might invoke the subterranean ocean of Enceladus.

Diff: 2

Bloom's Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing

Global Sci Out: G7

Section: 15.5 Terrestrial Planets

Focus/Concepts: 15.5

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

5) Discuss the differences between a geocentric and the heliocentric model of the universe.

Diff: 2

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G7

Section: 15.1 Ancient Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.1

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

6) What is the nebular theory? Explain how this theory is believed to have formed the solar system.

Diff: 3

Bloom's Taxonomy: Evaluating/Creating

Global Sci Out: G7

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

7) Describe the steps in forming an impact crater. Why are there no large impact craters preserved on the Earth like the ones seen on the moon.

Diff: 3

Bloom's Taxonomy: Evaluating/Creating

Global Sci Out: G7

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

15.4 Visual

1) Examine the figure and identify which of the two tails, "A" or "B," is the ion tail and which is the dust tail. How does this distinction relate to the composition of the comet? Explain the different characteristic(s) that allowed you to distinguish between the two tails, and how that relates to the way they form.

Diff: 3

Bloom's Taxonomy: Evaluating/Creating

Global Sci Out: G7

Section: 15.7 Small Solar System Bodies

Focus/Concepts: 15.7

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

2) All else being equal, which of these three asteroid-asteroid situations is most likely to result in a collision? Explain.

Diff: 3

Bloom's Taxonomy: Evaluating/Creating

Global Sci Out: G7

Section: 15.7 Small Solar System Bodies

Focus/Concepts: 15.7

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

3) Examine the figure. Explain the origin of the layers inferred to exist within our solar system's planets. Compare the terrestrial planets to the Jovian planets, and explain the origin of their differences.

Diff: 3

Bloom's Taxonomy: Evaluating/Creating

Global Sci Out: G7

Section: 15.3 Our Solar System: An Overview

Focus/Concepts: 15.3

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

4) Briefly outline the formation of Earth's moon, referring to the figure where appropriate.

Diff: 2

Bloom's Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding

Global Sci Out: G7

Section: 15.4 Earth's Moon: A Chip Off the Old Block

Focus/Concepts: 15.4

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

5) The situation depicted in part "A" of this figure will have the greatest ________ between the two asteroids.

A) gravitational attraction

B) gravitational repulsion

C) inertia

D) density

Diff: 2

Bloom's Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing

Global Sci Out: G7

Section: 15.7 Small Solar System Bodies

Focus/Concepts: 15.7

ESLI: 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth's history.

6) Compare part "A" of the figure to part "B." Which of the following statements is true concerning the figures?

A) "A" shows a heliocentric solar system; "B" shows a geocentric solar system.

B) "A" shows a geocentric solar system; "B" shows a heliocentric solar system.

C) Earth's orbit is faster in Figure B.

D) Earth's orbit is slower in Figure B.

Diff: 2

Bloom's Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing

Global Sci Out: G7

Section: 15.1 Ancient Astronomy

Focus/Concepts: 15.1

ESLI: 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms.