Deck 1: The Earth in Context

Question 1

In our current understanding of the big bang,____________.

A) Earth is much older than the rest of the Universe
B) the Universe is considerably older than Earth
C) Earth and the Universe formed at about the same time
D) there is no way of knowing how old the Universe might be

Answer 1

B

Question 2

In the heliocentric model ____________.

A) Earth orbits around the Sun
B) the Sun orbits around Earth
C) Earth is a stationary planet
D) Mercury and Venus orbit around the Sun, but all other planets orbit around Earth

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following bodies is the smallest?

A) planet
B) star
C) protoplanet
D) planetesimal

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Italian Renaissance astronomer Galileo was the first person to deduce that planets were distinct entities from stars.

Question 5

Strong evidence that the Universe is expanding comes from the fact that the light emitted from distant galaxies appears to be ____________.

A) red-shifted
B) blue-shifted
C) green-shifted
D) none of the above

Question 6

The circumference of Earth is most nearly ____________.

A) 400 km
B) 4,000 km
C) 40,000 km
D) 4,000,000 km

Question 7

An ancient Greek philosopher concluded (correctly)that ____________.

A) the Earth was spherical (round)
B) the Sun was the center of the whole Universe
C) the Sun was the center of the Earth's orbit
D) the Earth was the center of the Universe

Question 8

The geocentric model was developed during the time of the ancient Greeks.This model ____________.

A) was abandoned during the time of the Roman Empire and would never be widely held again
B) was held to be true by thinkers throughout the Middle Ages, up until the Renaissance
C) was rediscovered by the Polish astronomer Copernicus and has been the accepted model of the Universe ever since
D) has been proven by NASA space photos

Question 9

Since the initiation of the Big Bang,the temperature of the Universe has ____________.

A) increased
B) decreased
C) stayed about the same

Question 10

Among the choices below,the best estimate of the age of the Universe is ____________ years old.

A) 5 million
B) 6 billion
C) 14 billion
D) 100 billion

Question 11

The big bang theory states that ____________.

A) all stars will end their lives explosively as supernovas
B) Earth formed through a series of violent collisions
C) meteors were responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs
D) all matter in the Universe was once confined to a single point

Question 12

All objects in the Solar System are in orbit around ____________.

A) Earth
B) Jupiter
C) the Sun
D) the Kuiper Belt

Question 13

Aside from Earth,the terrestrial planets are ____________.

A) Mars, Mercury, and Venus
B) Mars, Venus, and Jupiter
C) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
D) Mars and Saturn

Question 14

The gas-giant,or Jovian,planets are ____________.

A) Mars, Mercury, and Venus
B) Mars, Venus, and Jupiter
C) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
D) Mars and Saturn

Question 15

By far the most common elements in the Universe and in our Solar System are ____________.

A) nitrogen and oxygen
B) iron and manganese
C) hydrogen and helium
D) hydrogen and oxygen

Question 16

As the Universe has evolved,____________.

A) hydrogen has been lost through fusion to form helium within stars
B) hydrogen concentration has increased through the fission of helium atoms
C) hydrogen concentration has increased through the fusion of helium atoms
D) the number of hydrogen atoms has likely remained constant

Question 17

A light year is a unit that measures ____________.

A) time
B) mass
C) distance
D) luminous intensity

Question 18

Our Sun belongs to a galaxy known as ____________.

A) Andromeda
B) Cepheus
C) the Milky Way
D) the Stratosphere

Question 19

The branch of science that studies the structure and history of the Universe is ____________.

A) cosmetology
B) scientology
C) cosmology
D) universalism

Question 20

Atoms that are heavier than iron are generally produced by ____________.

A) fission reactions within stars
B) fusion reactions within stars
C) the explosion of supernovae
D) the big bang

Question 21

Moving into the interior of Earth,temperature ____________.

A) and pressure both increase
B) and pressure both decrease
C) increases, but pressure stays nearly the same
D) remains remarkably constant, but pressure increases

Question 22

A fracture in the crust,where rocks slide past one another,is termed a ____________.

A) fold
B) fault
C) flying layer
D) frictional discontinuity

Question 23

Hot,liquid rock beneath the surface of the Earth is termed ____________.

A) lava
B) magma
C) volatiles
D) brimstone

Question 24

In the whole Earth,the four most common elements are oxygen,silicon,magnesium,and ____________.

A) copper
B) lead
C) iron
D) zinc

Question 25

The stream of charged particles given off by the Sun,which prevented the accumulation of hydrogen and helium during the formation of the terrestrial planets,is called ____________.

A) the aurora borealis
B) solar wind
C) the Sun's corona
D) the Van Allen belts

Question 26

Humans first realized that the Earth was spherical ____________.

A) as a result of the voyages of Christopher Columbus
B) when Magellan's crew was able to sail completely around the world
C) during the Renaissance
D) during the time of Aristotle in ancient Greece

Question 27

Earth's magnetic field is generated by ____________.

A) the flow of the liquid inner core
B) the flow of the liquid outer core
C) the convective flow of the mantle
D) magnetic minerals within the crust

Question 28

Earth's surface is protected from solar wind and cosmic radiation by ____________.

A) Earth's gravitational field
B) Earth's magnetic field
C) a large metallic shield launched into orbit by NASA in the 1960s
D) a powerful stream of ions emitted by the Sun

Question 29

Presently,Earth's atmosphere is dominated by which two gases?

A) hydrogen and oxygen
B) carbon dioxide and methane
C) nitrogen and oxygen
D) nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide

Question 30

Differentiation of the core from the mantle early in Earth's history was possible because the planet was ____________ at the time.

A) very cold
B) very hot
C) very small
D) the only planet in the Solar System

Question 31

Chemically,the Moon is quite similar to ____________.

A) seawater
B) Earth's crust
C) Earth's mantle
D) Earth's core

Question 32

The lithosphere is composed of the ____________.

A) crust only
B) crust, mantle, and outer core
C) top 100 m of sediments and sedimentary rocks
D) crust and the uppermost part of the mantle

Question 33

The shape of Earth's magnetic field is approximately that of a ____________.

A) monopole
B) dipole (such as that produced by a bar magnet)
C) torus, a donut-shaped ring parallel to Earth's equator

Question 34

In agreement with the Big Bang theory,our Universe is ____________.

A) expanding
B) contracting
C) static (unchanging)

Question 35

As seismic (earthquake-generated)waves travel downward and reach the Moho,they ___________.

A) speed up
B) slow down
C) continue at the same velocity
D) are all reflected directly back toward the surface

Question 36

As compared to ultramafic rocks,mafic rocks have a ____________.

A) greater proportion of silica
B) lesser proportion of silica
C) greater proportion of iron and magnesium atoms

Question 37

The boundary between the crust and mantle is marked by a seismic-velocity discontinuity called ____________.

A) the Edsel
B) the Moho
C) Lyell's surface
D) the crantle

Question 38

The metal alloy that makes up the core of Earth is ____________ as compared to the rocky mantle.

A) less dense
B) denser
C) very similar in chemistry and density
D) distinct in chemistry but of very similar density

Question 39

By mass,the four most abundant elements in the Earth are oxygen,silicon,magnesium,and ____________.

A) hydrogen
B) carbon
C) helium
D) iron

Question 40

Foucault's experiment with a pendulum proved that ____________.

A) Earth is the center of the Universe
B) Earth revolves around the Sun
C) Earth rotates about an internal axis
D) the Sun revolves around Earth

Question 41

As compared to the asthenosphere,the lithosphere is ____________.

A) cooler and more able to flow
B) hotter and more able to flow
C) cooler and less able to flow
D) hotter and less able to flow

Question 42

As compared to continental crust,the rocks that make up oceanic crust are ____________.

A) denser
B) made of minerals that contain more silica
C) thicker
D) all of the above

Question 43

The lithosphere lies directly above the ____________.

A) transition zone
B) crust
C) asthenosphere
D) lower mantle

Question 44

Of the three primary chemical layers of the Earth (crust,mantle,core),which is the thickest layer?

A) crust
B) mantle
C) core

Question 45

The Moho ____________.

A) lies at uniform depth everywhere it is found in Earth
B) is found deeper underneath continents than under oceans
C) is found deeper underneath oceans than under continents
D) is found well below the crust/mantle boundary

Question 46

The metallic content of Earth's core is ____________.

A) likely similar to what has been found in metallic meteorites
B) partly liquid and partly solid
C) an iron alloy (mostly iron with a few other elements mixed in)
D) all of the above

Question 47

The two most common elements in the crust of Earth are ____________.

A) iron and calcium
B) magnesium and manganese
C) oxygen and hydrogen
D) oxygen and silicon

Question 48

With increasing altitude,the concentration of gases in our atmosphere ____________.

A) becomes denser
B) becomes less dense
C) remains the same
D) increases for the first 10 km, then starts to decline

Question 49

The thickness of Earth's crust varies from ____________.

A) 100 to 500 m
B) 1 to 10 km
C) 5 to 500 km
D) 7 to 70 km

Question 50

Which of Earth's layers has the greatest density?

A) crust
B) mantle
C) core