Deck 2: The Copernican Revolution: The Birth of Modern Science

Question 1

Mercury, with a higher eccentricity orbit, should change its orbital speed more than doVenus or Earth.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Transits of Venus were critical in early determinations of the A.U.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The eccentricity of a perfectly circular orbit is 1.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Kepler based his theories on the precise planetary observations of Tycho Brahe.

Question 5

As originally stated, the Copernican model did no better job of predicting planetary behaviorthan did the Ptolemaic one.

Question 6

If the mass of a body were doubled, its gravity would become 4 times stronger.

Question 7

The orbits of most of the planets in our solar system have eccentricities close to zero.

Question 8

Newton's Law of Gravity would explain why Saturn, so far from the Sun, moves so slowlyacross the sky.

Question 9

Newton's modification of Kepler's Third Law lets us measure the mass of the Sun.

Question 10

Kepler found the orbits of planets are ellipses, not circles.

Question 11

Islamic scholars helped preserve the astronomy of Ancient Greece during Europe's Dark Ages.

Question 12

Galileo's observations of the entire phase cycle of Venus proved that Ptolemy's epicyclescould not be correct in keeping Venus between us and the Sun.

Question 13

Kepler determined the shape of each planet's orbit by triangulation from different points onEarth's orbit, using observations made at many different times of the year.

Question 14

When a planet retrogrades, it appears to move westward for weeks at a time.

Question 15

Like the Sun and the Moon, the planets appear to move from west to east from one day to thenext.

Question 16

Newton's Laws completely replaced the incorrect work of Kepler.

Question 17

It was the Chinese who provided critical ancient data on supernovae and comets.

Question 18

A planet (or comet)will speed up as it approaches the Sun.

Question 19

Like the Sun and the Moon, the stars appear to move from west to east from one day to thenext.

Question 20

Galileo's observations of sunspots proved the Sun was rotating, like the Earth.

Question 21

The Ptolemaic model probably persisted for all these reasons EXCEPT:

A)it had the authority of Aristotle behind it.
B)it was consistent with the doctrines of the Catholic Church.
C)it used perfect circles, which appealed to geometry.
D)it accounted well for Galileo's observations of the phase cycle of Venus.
E)it explain why stellar parallax was not observed by the Greeks.

Question 22

The principal culture that transferred Greek astronomical knowledge to Renaissance Europewas:

A)Byzantine.
B)Chinese.
C)Mongol.
D)Islamic.
E)Mayan.

Question 23

According to Copernicus, the retrograde motion for Mars must occur:

A)at inferior conjunction, when Mars laps the Earth and passes between us and the Sun.
B)at superior conjunction, when Mars lies on the far side of the Sun.
C)at quadrature, when Mars lies exactly 90 degrees east or west of the Sun.
D)at greatest elongation, when Mars can get up to 47 degrees from the Sun.
E)at opposition, when the Earth overtakes Mars and passes between Mars and the Sun.

Question 24

The greatest contribution of the Greeks to modern thought was:

A)the idea that all the planets orbited the Sun.
B)that their mythology was the basis for the naming of the constellations.
C)that their observation of stellar parallax proved the Earth orbited the Sun.
D)the development of scientific inquiry and model building.
E)the invention of the telescope.

Question 25

Which was a contribution to astronomy made by Copernicus?

A)The planets move around the Sun in elliptical orbits.
B)His theory of gravity accounted for the variable speeds of the planets.
C)He laid out the order and relative motion of the known solar system.
D)He discovered the Sun was not at the center of the Milky Way.
E)His telescope revealed the four moons of Jupiter, a model solar system.

Question 26

Which of the following was NOT a contribution of Galileo to astronomy?

A)Sunspots showed the Sun was rotating on its axis, like the Earth does.
B)The four moons of Jupiter are a model for the solar system motions in general.
C)The phases of Venus prove it orbits completely around the Sun.
D)The changing appearance of Saturn's rings corresponds to our seasons.
E)The craters and mare of the Moon prove it a world in its own right.

Question 27

On which of these assumptions do Ptolemy and Copernicus agree?

A)The Earth must be the center of all motion in the Cosmos.
B)All orbits must be perfect circles.
C)The Sun was bigger than the Earth.
D)Venus must always stay between us and the Sun.
E)The Sun must orbit us, but the planets do orbit the Sun.

Question 28

Which of the statements below is part of both the Ptolemaic and Copernican models?

A)The Earth orbits the Sun once a year.
B)The Sun lies in the center of the Cosmos.
C)The Moon orbits the Earth once a month.
D)Epicycles are needed to explain retrograde motion of the planets.
E)Venus's epicycle must always lie between us and the Sun.

Question 29

Which of these observations of Galileo refuted Ptolemy's epicycles?

A)the complete cycle of Venus's phases
B)the rotation of sunspots across the Sun's surface
C)the revolution of Jupiter's moons around it
D)the craters on the Moon
E)the visibility of many more stars with the telescope

Question 30

Which of these was NOT a part of the original Copernican model?

A)The Sun lies at the center of the solar system.
B)Mercury must move faster in its orbit than any other planet.
C)The Earth rotates on its axis once a day.
D)Venus can go all the way around the Sun.
E)Mercury speeds up at perihelion, and slows down at aphelion.

Question 31

Which of these was NOT seen telescopically by Galileo?

A)sunspots
B)Venus's phase cycle
C)four moons around Jupiter
D)stellar parallax
E)craters and mare on the Moon

Question 32

The heliocentric model was actually first proposed by:

A)Aristotle.
B)Archimedes.
C)Aristarchus.
D)Alexander the Great.
E)Hipparchus.

Question 33

Which of the following is a contribution to astronomy made by Galileo?

A)The astronomical telescope can show us far more detail than the eye can.
B)Jupiter has four moons orbiting it.
C)The Moon has craters, mountain, valleys, and dark flat areas on its surface.
D)Venus appears almost fully lit when it lies on the far side of the Sun.
E)All of the above.

Question 34

Which of these was NOT a telescopic discovery of Galileo?

A)the moons of Saturn
B)the craters and mare of the Moon
C)sunspots and the rotation of the Sun
D)the four largest moons of Jupiter
E)the phases of Venus

Question 35

Scientists today do not accept the Ptolemaic model because:

A)it is ancient history.
B)it was too complicated, compared to Copernicus' heliocentric model.
C)it has been shown that Ptolemy faked his data.
D)it had no explanation for retrograde motion.
E)the work of Tycho and Kepler showed the heliocentric model was more accurate.

Question 36

The most accurate Greek attempt to explain planetary motion was the model of:

A)Aristotle.
B)Pythagoras.
C)Hipparchus.
D)Ptolemy.
E)Erastothenes.

Question 37

Which of the following was NOT included in Copernicus' heliocentric model?

A)The planets of the solar system revolve around the Sun.
B)The stars are much farther away than the Sun.
C)Apparent retrograde motion is not the actual motion of the other planets.
D)The orbits of the planets are ellipses.
E)The Earth is not the center of everything.

Question 38

A fatal flaw with Ptolemy's model is its inability to predict the observed phases of:

A)the Sun during an eclipse.
B)the Moon in its monthly cycle.
C)Mercury and Venus.
D)Mars and Jupiter.
E)Jupiter and Saturn.

Question 39

The Ptolemaic model of the universe:

A)explained and predicted the motions of the planets with deferents and epicycles.
B)is the basis of our modern cosmology.
C)could not account for the stellar parallax observed by Hipparchus.
D)describes the orbits of the planets as being ellipses, not circles.
E)always kept Mars and Mercury between the Earth and Sun.

Question 40

According to Newton's second law, if you double the force acting on a body, the accelerationwill double.

Question 41

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, attempts to precisely measure theastronomical unit relied largely on rare:

A)total solar eclipses.
B)transits of the inferior planets across the Sun.
C)passages of comets close to the Earth.
D)maximum elongations of Venus.
E)oppositions of Mars.

Question 42

The force of gravity varies with the:

A)product of the two masses.
B)inverse of the distance separating the two bodies.
C)inverse square of the distance separating the two bodies.
D)Both A and B are correct.
E)Both A and C are correct.

Question 43

The force of gravity between two objects:

A)increases with the masses of the bodies, but decreases with their separations.
B)increases with the masses of the bodies, but decreases with the square of the distancesbetween them.
C)increases with the square of their masses, but decreases with the cube of their periods of orbitabout the Sun.
D)depends on the density, not the mass of the bodies.
E)depends on the temperature, density, and size of the bodies.

Question 44

The most famous prehistoric astronomical observatory is:

A)the Sphinx.
B)Stonehenge.
C)Big Horn stone circle.
D)Carcacol.
E)Mount Rushmore.

Question 45

A planet whose distance from the Sun is 3 A.U. would have an orbital period of how manyEarth-years?

A)3
B) $\sqrt { 27 }$
C) $\sqrt { 3 }$
D)9
E)81

Question 46

Tycho Brahe's contribution to Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion was:

A)his detailed and accurate observations of the planet's position.
B)his observations of Jupiter's moons.
C)a mathematical explanation of epicycles.
D)a precise lunar calendar.
E)the correct explanation of lunar phases.

Question 47

Upon which point do Copernicus and Kepler disagree?

A)The Moon orbits the Earth.
B)The Earth orbits the Sun.
C)Retrograde motion occurs when one planet overtakes another.
D)The orbits of the planets are ellipses, with one focus at the Sun.
E)Venus will appear as a crescent when she retrogrades between us and the Sun.

Question 48

The Law of Universal Gravitation was developed by:

A)Kepler.
B)Galileo.
C)Newton.
D)Copernicus.
E)Einstein.

Question 49

What does Kepler's third law imply about planetary motion?

A)All planets orbit the Sun at the same speed.
B)Planets closer to the Sun orbit at a slower speed than planets further from the Sun.
C)Planets further from the Sun orbit at a slower speed than planets closer to the Sun.
D)Planets further from the Sun orbit at a faster speed than planets closer to the Sun.
E)This law implies nothing about a planet's motion.

Question 50

If an object is observed to orbit the Sun in an orbit with an eccentricity of 0.9, what type ofobject is it likely to be?

A)a star
B)a planet
C)an asteroid
D)a comet
E)a moon

Question 51

Today we rely largely on what technique to precisely measure distances in the solar system?

A)transits of Venus across the Sun
B)radar echo timings
C)measurement of stellar parallaxes
D)timings of the eclipses of its moons by Jupiter's shadow
E)precise measurements of length of the year with atomic clocks

Question 52

The place in a planet's orbit that is closest to the Sun is called:

A)vernal equinox.
B)aphelion.
C)perihelion.
D)crossing the ecliptic.
E)None of these; a planet's distance from the Sun never changes.

Question 53

Which concept was NOT a part of Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion?

A)All planetary orbits are ellipses.
B)The square of the planet's period is equal to the cube of its average distance.
C)A planet must move fastest in its orbit at perihelion.
D)Epicycles are needed to explain the varying brightness of the planets.

Question 54

Galileo found the rotation period of the Sun was approximately:

A)a day.
B)a week.
C)a month.
D)three months.
E)a year.

Question 55

It took two centuries for the Copernican model to replace the Ptolemaic model because:

A)in Copernicus' time, there were no telescopes.
B)the Church wouldn't let anyone talk about Copernicus' model for 200 years.
C)there was no scientific evidence to support either model until Galileo made his observations.
D)the Ptolemaic model was simpler and more aesthetically pleasing.
E)the Copernican model required complicated new terms to explain it correctly.

Question 56

The planet with the most eccentric orbit is:

A)Mercury.
B)Earth.
C)Mars.
D)Neptune.
E)All planets orbit in circles, so have the same eccentricity.

Question 57

A circular orbit would have an eccentricity of:

A)0.
B)between 0 and 0.5.
C)between 0.5 and 1.
D)exactly 1.0.
E)infinity.

Question 58

What contribution to astronomy was made by Tycho Brahe?

A)The planets' orbits around the Sun are ellipses, not circles.
B)The Earth is not the center of the Universe.
C)His observations of planetary motion with great accuracy proved circular orbits could notwork.
D)His telescope revealed the moons of Jupiter before Galileo noted them.
E)Retrograde motion must be explained by epicycles larger than those of Ptolemy.

Question 59

According to Kepler's third law, the square of the planet's period in years is:

A)equal to its perihelion distance from the Sun in A.U.
B)inversely proportional to its mass in kilograms.
C)equal to the fourth power of its average temperature in degrees Kelvin.
D)proportional to the cube of its semimajor axis in A.U.
E)equal to the square of its aphelion distance in A.U.

Question 60

Kepler's first law worked, where Copernicus' original heliocentric model failed, becauseKepler described the orbits as:

A)elliptical, not circular.
B)much larger than Copernicus had envisioned.
C)around the Sun, not the Earth.
D)being on equants instead of epicycles.
E)complex, with epicycles to account for retrograde motions.

Question 61

Astronomical alignments in antiquity on solstice and equinox sunrises and sunsets show usthese builders had developed a(n)________ for farming.

Question 62

Orbital speed is the speed with which a planet moves around the Sun. This speed isdetermined by:

A)the mass of the planet only.
B)the mass of the Sun only.
C)both the mass of the planet and the mass of the Sun.
D)the mass of the planet and its distance from the Sun.
E)the mass of both the planet and the Sun and the distance between the two.

Question 63

While the orbits of planets are nearly circular, the eccentricities of the orbits of ________ arenear one.

Question 64

Jupiter lies about 5 A.U. from the Sun, so at its distance:

A)the Sun's gravity is just as strong as it is here at Earth.
B)the Sun's gravity must be five times stronger to hold massive Jupiter in orbit.
C)the Sun's gravity is five times weaker there than at one A.U. distance.
D)the Sun's gravity is 25 times weaker than its pull on the Earth.
E)the Sun's gravity is so weak that ultimately Jupiter will escape the solar system.

Question 65

According to Copernicus, retrograde motion for Venus must occur around:

A)inferior conjunction, when it passes between us and the Sun.
B)quadrature, when the planet is 90 degrees away from the Sun.
C)greatest elongation, when the planet is farthest from the Sun.
D)superior conjunction, when the planet is on the far side of the Sun.
E)opposition, when the planet lies opposite the Sun in the sky.

Question 66

Galileo's discovery of four moons orbiting ________ provided new support for the ideas ofCopernicus.

Question 67

Because he failed to observe stellar ________, Aristotle wrongly concluded we could not bein orbit around the Sun.

Question 68

We are at ________ in January, when we are closest to the Sun in our elliptical orbit.

Question 69

While both Ptolemy and Copernicus assumed all orbits were ________, Kepler's first lawcorrected this and made planetary motion predictable.

Question 70

Kepler's second law implies what about planetary motion?

A)A planet moves at a constant speed during its orbit of the Sun.
B)A planet moves faster when it is farther from the Sun.
C)A planet moves slower when it is closer to the Sun.
D)A planet moves faster when it is closer to the Sun.
E)This law implies nothing about a planet's motion.

Question 71

Which of these was a contribution of Newton to astronomy?

A)Artificial satellites could be put into orbit about the Earth.
B)The Sun's gravity is greatest on a planet at perihelion, so the planet must speed up.
C)The Moon pulls as strongly on us as we do on it.
D)His differential calculus lets us calculate planetary motions more accurately.
E)All of these were due to Newton's work.

Question 72

How does Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation explain Kepler's laws?

A)Universal gravitation implies that the orbits of the planets must be elliptical (Kepler's firstlaw).
B)Universal gravitation implies that the planets will sweep out equal areas in equal times(Kepler's second law).
C)Universal gravitation implies that the planets further from the Sun will move more slowlythan the planets closer to the Sun (Kepler's third law).
D)Universal gravitation implies that when a planet is closer to the Sun in its orbit, it will movefaster than when it is farther from the Sun (Kepler's second law).
E)Both C and D are correct.

Question 73

Escape velocity is the speed required to:

A)orbit an object.
B)overcome the gravitational pull of an object.
C)overtake an object in orbit and pass it.
D)keep from falling out of orbit around an object.
E)maintain a constant distance from an object.

Question 74

Combining Newton's and Kepler's laws, we can weigh the Sun, provided we know:

A)its density as found by spectroscopy.
B)its temperature as found by Wien's Law.
C)the size of the A.U. and exact length of the year.
D)the Earth's mass and circumference.
E)the exact timings of the transits of Venus and its diameter.

Question 75

If the distance between two asteroids is doubled, the gravitational force they exert on eachother will:

A)also be doubled.
B)be half as great.
C)be one fourth as great.
D)be $1 / 16$ a great.
E)be four times greater.

Question 76

Given that the planet orbiting the nearby star 51 Pegasi is about 20X larger than the Earth,but 400X more massive, on that world you would weigh:

A)the same as you do here.
B)twice as much as you do here.
C)half as much as you do here.
D)20X more that you do here.
E)400X more than you do here.

Question 77

Compared to orbital velocity, escape velocity is about:

A)the same.
B) $70 \%$ ess.
C) $40 \%$ ore.
D)twice as large.
E)four times greater.

Question 78

How much stronger is the gravitational pull of the Sun on Earth, at 1 A.U., than it is onSaturn at 10 A.U.?

A)5X
B)10X
C)25X
D)100X
E)250X

Question 79

According to Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, if the Moon were three times furtherfrom Earth, the force by Earth on the Moon would:

A)increase by a factor of 3.
B)decrease by a factor of 3.
C)increase by a factor of 9.
D)decrease by a factor of 9.
E)stay the same.

Question 80

Geosynchronous satellites orbit at about four Earth radii, where the Earth's gravitational pullis:

A)2 g.
B)1 g.
C) $\text { 1/2 g. }$
D) $\text { 1/4 g. }$
E) $1 / 16 \mathrm {~g}$