Deck 1: Here and Now

Question 1

Earth has a radius of about 6400 km, the sun has a radius of about 7.0 10 5 km, and a rubber ball has a radius of 6.4 cm. If you were to construct a scale model of the solar system using the rubber ball to represent Earth, what is the radius of a ball needed to represent the sun in your model?

A) 7.0 10 5 cm
B) 7.0 cm
C) 700 cm
D) 70 cm
E) 7000 cm

Answer 1

700 cm

Question 2

In the diagram below, what is the diameter of Mercury?

A) about 240 km
B) about 2400 km
C) about 24,000 km
D) about 240,000 km
E) about 2.4 10 6 km

Answer 2

about 2400 km

Question 3

If light takes 8 minutes to travel from the sun to Earth and over 4 hours to travel from the sun to the planet Neptune, what is the distance from the sun to Neptune?

A) 5 AU
B) 30 AU
C) 30 ly
D) 5 ly
E) 0.6 ly

Answer 3

30 AU

Question 4

It takes light 1.3 seconds to travel from the moon to Earth and 8 minutes to travel from the sun to Earth. Which of the following statements is true?

A) The sun is 6.2 times further from Earth than the moon.
B) The sun is 10 times further from Earth than the moon.
C) The sun is 0.16 times further Earth than the moon
D) The sun is 0.10 times further from Earth that the moon.
E) The sun is 370 times further from Earth than the moon.

Question 5

2.9*10⁷ is the same as

A) 2.9 thousand
B) 29 thousand
C) 290 thousand
D) 2.9 million
E) 29 million

Question 6

The radius of the moon s orbit is about ____ times larger than the radius of Earth.

A) 0.6
B) 6
C) 60
D) 600
E) 6000

Question 7

The Milky Way Galaxy is

A) a spiral galaxy.
B) part of a cluster of galaxies that contains a few dozen galaxies.
C) about 80,000 light years in diameter.
D) all of the above.

Question 8

From 1979 to 1999 Pluto was closer to the sun than

A) Earth.
B) Uranus.
C) Neptune.
D) Saturn.
E) Jupiter

Question 9

The sun is

A) a star which generates its own energy
B) 1 AU from Earth.
C) visible by its own light emission.
D) all of the above

Question 10

The speed of light is 3*10⁵ km/sec, and it takes light 1.3 sec for light to travel from the moon to Earth. From this information, what is the distance to the moon?

A) 390,000 km
B) 230,000 km
C) 3.9 km
D) 2.3 km
E) 4.3*10⁵ km

Question 11

How many centimeters are there in one kilometer?

A) 100
B) 1,000
C) 10,000
D) 100,000
E) 1 10 6

Question 12

Arrange the following distances in order from smallest to largest.
I. kilometer
II. light-year
III. yard
IV. Astronomical unit

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

Question 13

Scientific notation is used in science because

A) it makes it easy to write big or small numbers.
B) all astronomical distances are expressed in metric units.
C) it makes conversions between units easy.
D) all of the above

Question 14

The Milky Way Galaxy

A) contains about 100 billion stars.
B) is about 200 light-years in diameter.
C) is the largest known object in the universe.
D) all of the above
E) a and c

Question 15

1.65 billion is the same as

A) 1.65*10¹²
B) 1.65*10⁹
C) 1.65*10⁶
D) 1.65 *10⁵
E) 1.65*10 ³

Question 16

A typical galaxy like our Milky Way galaxy contains

A) primarily planets.
B) gas only
C) stars (some with planets), gas and dust
D) a single star and planets.
E) thousands of superclusters.

Question 17

The diameter of a typical star (the sun) is approximately ____ times larger than the diameter of a typical planet (the Earth).

A) 10
B) 100
C) 1000
D) 10,000
E) 100,000

Question 18

The average distance from Earth to the sun is

A) 1 ly
B) 1 million km
C) 1 million miles
D) 1 billion km
E) 1 AU

Question 19

In the diagram below, what is the diameter of Jupiter?

A) about 7.0*10⁴ km
B) about 7.0*10⁵ km
C) about 1.4*10⁴ km
D) about 1.4*10⁵ km
E) about 3.5*10⁶km

Question 20

If the distance to the nearest star is 4.2 light-years, then

A) the star is 4.2 million AU away.
B) the light we see left the star 4.2 years ago.
C) the star must have formed 4.2 billion years ago.
D) the star must be very young.
E) the star must be very old.

Question 21

If the Earth were represented as a basketball (~10 in) and the Moon as a baseball (~3 in) then, to order of magnitude, what size would best represent the diameter of the Sun?

A) 10 ft
B) 100 ft
C) 1000 ft
D) 10000 ft

Question 22

The metric system is a decimal system.

Question 23

The name of the average distance from Earth to the sun is one ____________________.

Question 24

The sun is a star in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Question 25

A(n) ____________________ is the distance that light would travel in one year?

Question 26

A light-year is the distance light travels in one year.

Question 27

Light takes about 8 minutes to travel from the sun to Earth and about 40 minutes to travel from the sun to Jupiter. Jupiter is about ____________________ AU from the sun

Question 28

A kilometer contains 1 million meters.

Question 29

The numbers 9.81*10⁵ and 981,000 are equivalent.

Question 30

Assume the size of the Sun is represented by a baseball with the Earth is about 15 meters (150 million km or 8 light minutes) away. How far away, to scale, would the nearest stars to the Sun be? Pick the closest answer.

A) About the distance between New York and Boston. (330 km)
B) 100 meters away
C) About the distance across the United States from New York to Los Angeles (4300 km).
D) About the distance across 50 football fields. (50x 100 m)

Question 31

An astronomical unit is larger than a light-year.

Question 32

Which sequence is correct when ordered by increasing size?

A) Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, clusters of galaxies
B) Solar System, Earth, galaxy clusters, Milky Way Galaxy
C) Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Solar System, galaxy clusters
D) Galaxy clusters, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth

Question 33

The number 52,600,000,000 would be written in scientific notation as ____________________.

Question 34

If we say that an object is 1,000 light-years away we see it

A) as it looked 1,000 years ago.
B) as it would appear to our ancestors 1,000 years ago.
C) as it looked 1,000 light-years ago.
D) as it is right now, but it appears 1,000 times dimmer.

Question 35

The average distance from Earth to the sun is 1 AU.

Question 36

If the distance from the Sun to the Earth is represented by roughly 15 meters, then the distance from the Earth to the Moon on the same scale would be

A) about 30 meters.
B) about 10 meters.
C) about 1 meter.
D) small than your hand.

Question 37

3.42*10⁷km is the same as 3.42*10⁴ m.

Question 38

The nearest star is 1 ly from the solar system.

Question 39

How is a planet different than a star?

A) Planets are larger than stars.
B) Planets reflect light while stars produce their own light.
C) Stars move faster in the sky than planets.
D) Planets are brighter than stars.

Question 40

A(n) ____________________ is the largest known structure in the universe.

Question 41

Briefly describe the scientific method.

Question 42

Why do we measure some distances in astronomy in light-years and some in astronomical units?

Question 43

I live 20 minutes from Center City. How is this statement similar to giving astronomical distances in light-years?

Question 44

Explain the difference between a light-year and the orbital period of Earth.

Question 45

Considering that the Sun is about 1/100 AU in diameter and a typical planet like Earth is 1/10,000 AU, discuss whether or not our Solar System is crowded or empty?

Question 46

From what you know about astronomical units and light-years, how would you define a light-minute?

Question 47

A supercluster refers to a large group of stars within the Milky Way.

Question 48

Why would the English system of units be more useful if a foot contained 10 inches?

Question 49

Describe the difference between a solar system and a galaxy.