Deck 3: The Origin of Modern Astronomy

Question 1

A(n) ____ is a commonly accepted set of scientific ideas and assumptions.

A) theory
B) paradigm
C) hypothesis
D) natural law
E) model

Answer 1

paradigm

Question 2

The book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium

A) describes how Galileo s observations and Kepler s calculations proved the Copernican theory.
B) describes the construction of Galileo s telescope and his observations.
C) is a dialog written to convince the general public of the merits of the Copernican theory.
D) first described the Copernican theory.
E) describes the Tychonian theory.

Answer 2

first described the Copernican theory.

Question 3

A(n) ____ is a single conjecture that can be tested.

A) hypothesis
B) paradigm
C) natural law
D) model
E) theory

Answer 3

hypothesis

Question 4

The semi major axis of an ellipse is

A) the ratio of the longest diameter of the ellipse to that of the shortest diameter of the ellipse.
B) half the length of the shortest diameter of the ellipse.
C) half the length of the longest diameter of the ellipse.
D) the distance between the two foci of the ellipse.
E) the ratio of the distance between the two foci to the length of half the longest diameter of the ellipse.

Question 5

The Copernican system was no more accurate than the Ptolemaic system in predicting the positions of the planets because ___________just as in the Ptolemaic system.

A) the Copernican system assumed the Earth was at rest at the center.
B) the Copernican system used elliptical planetary orbits
C) the Copernican system used uniform circular motion.
D) the Copernican system assumed all planets orbited the Sun

Question 6

____ occur when the moon is first or third quarter.

A) Neap tides
B) Spring tides
C) Total solar eclipses
D) Annular eclipses
E) A coppery red moon will

Question 7

Retrograde motion

A) is observable for planets located between Earth and the sun.
B) is observable for planets more distant from the Sun than is Earth.
C) is only observable for the moon.
D) is observable for all planets.
E) none of the above

Question 8

A(n) ____ is well supported (observationally and/or experimentally) system of rules and principles that can be applied to a wide variety of circumstances but that is not universally accepted.

A) hypothesis
B) paradigm
C) theory
D) model

Question 9

Spring tides occur

A) at new moon and first quarter moon.
B) at first quarter and third quarter moons.
C) at new moon and full moon.
D) at third quarter and full moons.
E) at noon and midnight.

Question 10

Galileo s telescopic discoveries of mountains on the moon and spots on the sun were controversial because they suggested that the sun and moon

A) were the same kind of object.
B) were not perfect spheres.
C) were inhabited.
D) orbited each other.
E) did not orbit Earth.

Question 11

A(n) ____ is a small circle whose center is located on the circumference of another larger circle.

A) equant
B) deferent
C) retrograde loop
D) ellipse
E) epicycle

Question 12

Galileo s observations of a complete set of phases of Venus proved

A) that Venus orbited the sun.
B) that Earth orbited the sun.
C) that all of the planets orbited the sun.
D) that the moon orbited Earth.
E) that Venus had an atmosphere.

Question 13

Parallax is

A) the apparent motion of an object due to the motion of the observer.
B) the distance between two foci of an ellipse.
C) the small circle that the planets slid along in Ptolemy s geocentric universe.
D) the circular orbits used in Copernicus heliocentric universe.
E) half the length of the shortest diameter of an ellipse.

Question 14

The geometry of an ellipse is described by two numbers: the ____ which is half the longest diameter of the ellipse and the ____ which tells us the shape of the ellipse.

A) radius, eccentricity
B) radius, deferent
C) semi major axis, deferent
D) semi major axis, epicycle
E) semi major axis, eccentricity

Question 15

Which of the following people did NOT accept a heliocentric model for the universe?

A) Kepler
B) Copernicus
C) Tycho
D) Galileo
E) Newton

Question 16

Tycho Brahe s greatest contribution to astronomy was

A) his model of the universe.
B) his telescopic observations.
C) his discovery of three laws of motion.
D) his 20 years of careful observations of the planets.
E) a and b above

Question 17

Ptolemy s model of the universe

A) was heliocentric.
B) included elliptical orbits.
C) contained epicycles.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 18

Tycho s universe was the same as the Copernican universe except that

A) Earth did not move.
B) the sun did not move.
C) the moon orbited the sun.
D) the orbits were elliptical with the sun at one focus.
E) the orbits followed uniform circular motion.

Question 19

____ orbit is one in which an object orbiting Earth has an orbital period equal to the rotation period of Earth.

A) A daily
B) A lunar
C) An epicycle
D) A geosynchronous
E) An open

Question 20

A(n) ____________ is a description of some natural phenomenon that can t be right or wrong. It is merely a convenient way to think about a natural phenomenon.

A) hypothesis
B) paradigm
C) natural law
D) model
E) theory

Question 21

An object has been located orbiting the sun at a distance from the sun of 65 AU. What is the approximate orbital period of this object?

A) 65 years
B) 275,000 years
C) 4225 years
D) 8.1 years
E) 524 years

Question 22

Which of the following books of tabulated predicted planet positions was not based on uniform circular motion?

A) the Rudolphine Tables by Kepler
B) the Prutenic Tables based on Copernicus model
C) the Alphonsine Tables based on Ptolemy s observations and calculations

Question 23

An apparent westward motion of a planet in the sky compared to the background stars (as viewed from the Earth) when observed on successive nights is referred to as

A) epicycle
B) retrograde motion
C) prograde motion
D) heliocentric motion
E) deferent

Question 24

Newton concluded that a force from the Earth had to act on the moon because

A) a force is needed to keep the moon in motion in its orbit.
B) a force is needed to pull the moon outward.
C) a force is needed to accelerate the moon toward Earth away from straight-line motion.
D) the moon moved at a constant velocity in a straight line.
E) all of the above

Question 25

The purpose of using epicycles and deferents to explain the motion of the planets in the night sky was to account for

A) prograde motion.
B) Mercury and Venus limited angular distance from the Sun.
C) retrograde motion.
D) non-uniform speed of the planets in their orbits.
E) precession of the equinoxes.

Question 26

Which of the following planets can be seen as a crescent phase from Earth?

A) Mercury
B) Venus
C) Mars
D) Both a and b
E) All of the above

Question 27

In pre-Copernican astronomy, it was almost universally believed that

A) the planets traveled in elliptical orbits about the Earth.
B) the center of the universe was the Sun with the Milky Way representing other distant planets.
C) the Sun was at the center of the universe.
D) the Earth was at the center of the universe.
E) None of the above was believed.

Question 28

The force due to gravity between two objects depends on
I. the mass of each object.
II. the distance each object is from Earth.
III. the distance between the two objects.
IV. the speed of light.

A) I II
B) I,III
C) II IV
D) I, II, III
E) I, II, III, IV

Question 29

When Mars is located directly behind the Earth with respect to the Sun in its orbit, it is

A) at the midpoint in the sky between east and west at sunset.
B) at the midpoint in the sky between east and west at midnight.
C) at the midpoint in the sky between east and west at sunrise.
D) at the midpoint in the sky between east and west at noon.
E) not visible in the night sky.

Question 30

Kepler s first law of planetary motion implies that

A) the planets move at a constant speeds at all points in their orbits.
B) the planets all move around the Earth in elliptical orbits.
C) uniform circular motion is adequate to describe the motion of all planets.
D) planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun.

Question 31

Saturn is on average 10 AU from the sun. What is the approximate orbital period of Saturn?

A) 10 years
B) 32 years
C) 100 years
D) 1000 years
E) 1,000,000 years

Question 32

Which of the following objects cannot transit (i.e. pass in front of) the Sun as seen from Jupiter?

A) Mars
B) Earth
C) Saturn
D) Mercury
E) Venus

Question 33

The ____ of an object is a measure of the amount of matter it contains. On the other hand, ____ is a measure of the gravitational force on an object.

A) weight, mass
B) mass, weight
C) energy, force
D) force, energy
E) momentum, energy

Question 34

Halley s comet has an orbital period of 76 years, what is the average distance of Comet Halley from the sun?

A) 51 AU
B) 18 AU
C) 114 AU
D) 660 AU
E) 38 AU

Question 35

Kepler s second law implies that

A) a planet should move at its greatest speed when it is closest to the sun.
B) the most massive planets will have the greatest speed in their orbits.
C) the speed of a planet in its orbit depends on the size of the epicycle.
D) the mass of the planet determines how far the planet is from the sun.
E) the deferent and the epicycle have to be attached to the sun and not Earth.

Question 36

The diagram below illustrates a portion of the model for the universe described by

A) Kepler
B) Tycho
C) Ptolemy
D) Copernicus
E) Galileo

Question 37

Gravity obeys an inverse square relation. This statement implies that the force due to gravity between two masses

A) will increase as the distance between the two masses increases.
B) will decrease as the square of the distance between the two masses increases.
C) will cause the two masses to move away from each other.
D) will cause the two masses to move in a straight line.
E) will cause the two masses to orbit each other.

Question 38

If the mass of the Earth decreased by a factor of two with no change in radius, your weight would

A) increase by a factor of 4.
B) increase by a factor of 2.
C) stay the same.
D) decrease by a factor of 2.
E) decrease by a factor of 4.

Question 39

The period of Jupiter s orbit around the sun is approximately 12 years. What is the approximate distance from the sun to Jupiter?

A) 144 AU
B) 1728 AU
C) 42 AU
D) 5.2 AU
E) 2.3

Question 40

The force of gravity from one object extends to infinity never going to zero.When we say that gravitation is universal we mean that

A) the Earth exerts gravitational force on objects on its surface
B) the Earth exerts a gravitational force on its moon and vice versa
C) the Earth, moon and sun exert gravitational forces on each other
D) all material objects in the universe exert gravitational forces on one another.

Question 41

Uranus orbital period is 84 years. How far is Uranus from the sun?

Question 42

Which of the following statements best describes Kelper s 3 rd law of planetary motion?

A) The smaller the diameter of a planet, the faster its rotational period.
B) The orbital period of a planet directly proportional to the diameter of the planet.
C) The smaller the orbit, the longer its orbital period.
D) The larger the orbit, the longer its orbital period.

Question 43

____________________ made very accurate observations of the positions and movements of the planets that were later used to help develop the Rudolphine Tables.

Question 44

A comet is found in a highly elliptical orbit to have a semi-major axis equal to one astronomical unit (AU). According to Kelper s 3 rd law of what would be the sidereal period of this comet?

A) It will be more than one year.
B) It will be one year.
C) It will be less than one year.
D) 76 years; the same for every comet
E) Not enough information is given to determine.

Question 45

The ____________________ Tables were based on a heliocentric model of the universe and used elliptical orbits for the planets.

Question 46

A(n) ____________________ is a circle whose center moves in a circular orbit around the Earth.

Question 47

The greatest inaccuracy in Copernicus model of the solar system was that the planets

A) travel in circular orbits with uniform motion.
B) traveled on epicycles whose centers followed orbits around the Sun.
C) traveled in elliptical orbits.
D) were allowed to travel backwards in their orbits.
E) the planets orbited the Sun.

Question 48

Why did Galileo s observations of moons orbiting Jupiter disagree with geocentric model of the universe of his time?

A) The moons moved in non-circular orbits about Jupiter.
B) The moons did not appear to orbit the Sun.
C) The moons did not appear to orbit the Earth.
D) The moons appeared to be too small, and therefore too far away, to be considered part of the solar system.

Question 49

In Ptolemy s view of the universe, a planet moves on an epicycle whose center moves around the Earth on the deferent circle.

A) Correct
B) FALSE; Ptolemy put the Sun at the center.
C) FALSE; The planet stays on the deferent circle.
D) FALSE; The Earth is at the center of the epicycle.
E) FALSE; Both c and d are correct.

Question 50

Ptolemy formulated a(n) ____________________ model of the solar system to predict positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets.

Question 51

Copernicus was the first to propose that Earth moved around the sun.

Question 52

Ocean tides of low amplitude that occur at first and third quarter moons are called ____________________.

Question 53

A scientific model can never be exactly correct.

Question 54

Many classical Greek astronomers believed Earth could not move because they detected no parallax.

Question 55

The orbit of the planet Jupiter is ellipse with the Sun at one focus. What is located at the other focus?

A) The asteroid belt
B) Earth
C) Saturn
D) Jupiter
E) Nothing

Question 56

The modern first astronomer to propose a heliocentric model for the solar system was ____________________.

Question 57

The Copernican model of the solar system has the planets orbit the sun along elliptical paths.

Question 58

According to Kepler s third law, a planet s orbital period ____________________ is equal to its average distance from the sun ____________________.

Question 59

The first observations of objects in the solar system that orbited neither the sun nor Earth were made by ____________________.

Question 60

The eccentricity of a planet s orbit describes

A) westward motion in the night sky when observed on successive nights.
B) the deviation in shape when compared to a circle.
C) its tilt with respect to the ecliptic plane.
D) the tilt of the planet s rotational axis with respect to the ecliptic.

Question 61

How did the geocentric model and the heliocentric model of the universe explain retrograde motion?

Question 62

What are Kepler s three laws?

Question 63

The force due to gravity has the mathematical form:

Question 64

Describe the Ptolemaic model of the universe. Draw a diagram of the model showing the major components of the model for the Earth, moon, Sun, and the five planets visible to the Greeks.

Question 65

If a planet orbits the sun at a distance of 4 AU, then its orbital period is 8 years.

Question 66

Describe one observation that would disprove the Ptolemaic model and explain why it would conflict with the model.

Question 67

Discuss which of Galileo s observations argued against the geocentric model and which of his discoveries argued for the heliocentric model.

Question 68

The neap tides can only occur when the Moon s position is at or near one of its orbital nodes.

Question 69

The spring tides occur during the new and full lunar phases.

Question 70

Galileo used a telescope to observe the phases of Jupiter.

Question 71

Classical Greek astronomers believed the motions of the heavens could be described by uniform circular motion.

Question 72

The law of gravitation is termed universal because it is a property of all material objects.

Question 73

How did Tycho Brahe s model of the universe differ from that of Ptolemy? How did Tycho Brahe s model of the universe differ from that of Copernicus?

Question 74

Describe the differences between the Ptolemaic, Tychonian and Copernican models of the universe.

Question 75

What are Newton s three laws of motion?

Question 76

Why were Galileo s telescopic observations of the phases of Venus critical evidence in favor of the Copernican theory?

Question 77

If Copernicus overthrew the geocentric universe, what did Kepler overthrow?

Question 78

Why does Ptolemy include epicycles in his model?

Question 79

The Ptolemaic model of the universe was heliocentric.