Introductory Astronomy - Quiz # 5
Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
__B__ 1. Usually, the most distant planet from the Sun in the solar system is:
a. Mercury
b. Pluto
c. Venus
d. Neptune
e. none of the above
__A__ 2. In the far future, a visiting tourist from another planetary system asks to see the most massive object in our solar
system. Where would you take him/her/it?
a. the Sun
b. Saturn
c. the asteroid belt
d. Comet Halley
e. Neptune
__D__ 3. All the planets (without exception)
a. have solid surfaces
b. have thick atmospheres
c. have satellites orbiting around them
d. revolve (orbit) around the Sun in the same direction
e. rotate on their axes in the same direction that they revolve around the Sun
__E__ 4. Which of the following characteristics do all four terrestrial planets have in common?
a. they all have one or more moons
b. they all have liquid water on their surfaces
c. they all rotate in 24 hours or less
d. they all have thick atmospheres
e. they all have solid surfaces with signs of geological activity on them
__B__ 5. Of the following planets, which one does NOT have satellites (moons)?
a. Mars
b. Venus
c. Earth
d. Jupiter
e. all the planets have satellites
__C__ 6. During the process of differentiation,
a. satellites separate from the parent planets and go into their own orbits
b. the faster planets move further out from the Sun
c. heavier materials sink to the centers of molten planets
d. the atmosphere of a planet changes from oxidized to reduced
e. the surface of a planet changes to resemble a terrestrial desert
__B__ 7. The small bodies in the solar system composed mainly of ices (frozen gases) that usually orbit far from the Sun
are called:
a. snowroids
b. comets
c. asteroids
d. satellites
e. jovians
__D__ 8. When chemists say that a planet's outer regions are reduced, they mean that these regions
a. have far less material than other parts of the planet
b. are dominated by the element oxygen and its compounds
c. are so warm that no molecules can exist
d. are dominated by the element hydrogen and its compounds
e. have been bombarded over the years by many asteroids, causing large craters on the
surface
__E__ 9. The rate at which a collection of the same radioactive atoms will decay depends on:
a. the amount of radio radiation falling on the material
b. the amount of light falling on the material
c. the temperature of the material
d. the size of the planet or moon on which the material is located
e. only on internal processes within the atoms; nothing external matters
__D__ 10. Radioactive dating techniques have revealed that our Earth and Moon are approximately how old?
a. about 6,000 years
b. about 2 million years
c. about 100 million years
d. about 4.5 billion years
e. we have no way of measuring ages as old as the Earth's
Introductory Astronomy - Quiz # 5
Answer Section
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. ANS: B
2. ANS: A
3. ANS: D
4. ANS: E
5. ANS: B
6. ANS: C
7. ANS: B
8. ANS: D
9. ANS: E
10. ANS: D