Deck 16: Earth and Other Planets: Is Earth the Only Planet With Life

Question 1

An astronaut standing on Mars and attempting to look at Jupiter would have to look through the intervening

A) Oort Cloud.
B) rings of Saturn.
C) asteroid belt.
D) moon Triton.
E) Sun's bright corona.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The Earth's layered composition is a consequence of

A) the great bombardment.
B) differentiation of materials.
C) isolation.
D) condensation currents.
E) plate tectonics.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The early atmosphere on Earth included

A) methane (CH₄).
B) oxygen (O₂).
C) ammonia (NH₃).
D) carbon dioxide (CO₂).
E) helium (He)

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The birth of a solar system would look like

A) a huge explosion of rocks and fire.
B) a meteor shower.
C) thick dust clouds circling a new star.
D) a thickening Jovian plane.
E) nothing we could ever see or imagine.

Question 5

What are some health hazards of long space trips?

A) Astronauts can develop skin cancer from direct UV-rays.
B) Unidentified microbes create a possible danger of infection.
C) Weight gain is common because of the high calorie foods.
D) Bone mass is lost increasing the chance of breaks.
E) Blindness and deafness.

Question 6

The composition of the Earth's Moon is most like

A) Mars.
B) the Earth's crustal material.
C) an asteroid.
D) the Earth's mantle.
E) a comet.

Question 7

What two elements comprise most of a nebula?

A) hydrogen and helium
B) hydrogen and nitrogen
C) oxygen and lithium
D) carbon and hydrogen
E) helium and lithium

Question 8

The mantle of the Earth can be described as

A) resembling a metallic core.
B) containing hot, melted rock.
C) being like the surface of the Earth.
D) primarily gaseous.
E) helium, oxygen, magnesium, silicon.

Question 9

The impact collision theory of the Moon's formation

A) was disproved by samples from the Apollo lunar missions.
B) states that the Moon was formed elsewhere in the Solar System and was captured by Earth's gravitational force.
C) suggests that the Moon was thrown from a spinning Earth.
D) states that the Earth was struck by a huge object, causing a large amount of mantle material to be blown into orbit.
E) suggests that the Moon was formed by light, less dense materials that floated into the orbit around the Earth.

Question 10

The inner core at the center of the Earth

A) contains the heaviest elements of the Earth's mass.
B) is made from rocks similar to those on the Earth's surface.
C) contains a mixture of solids, liquids, and gases.
D) is under low pressure, but at a very high temperature.
E) is solid, but is not the same composition as the surface of the Earth.

Question 11

Why are the Jovian planets formed from materials different from the terrestrial planets?

A) Terrestrial planets were protected by the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
B) The composition of elements in a planet was a random process after the Big Bang.
C) When the solar system first formed, the heaviest elements sank toward the center of the nebulae and the lightest elements floated out.
D) Gaseous Jovian planets, formed farther away from the heat of the Sun, are formed from light weight nebulae "dust."
E) Only the terrestrial planets formed from planetesimals.

Question 12

Which scientist is credited with the discovery of Pluto?

A) Percival Lowell
B) Isaac Newton
C) Clyde Tombaugh
D) Galileo Galilei
E) Pierre Laplace

Question 13

If only Newton's laws of motion affected motion in our solar system, then

A) Venus's orbit could be the reverse of Earth's orbit.
B) Earth's Moon could rise in the west and set in the east.
C) Mars's orbit could be perpendicular to Jupiter's orbit.
D) Saturn's rings could be at random angles to their current plane.
E) all of these are correct.

Question 14

A comparison of asteroids and terrestrial planets would reveal that both are

A) made primarily of gases.
B) relatively rocky and small.
C) composed of chunks of ice surrounded by solid material.
D) located beyond the effect of solar heat and wind.
E) large and dense, compared to the Jovian planets.

Question 15

The process that formed the structure of the Earth and other terrestrial planets is

A) convection.
B) gravity.
C) differentiation
D) acceleration.
E) tectonics.

Question 16

The Earth's atmosphere has probably been affected by all of the following except for

A) volcanoes.
B) strong solar winds.
C) steam from the tropical jungles.
D) the number of living things on Earth.
E) increased amounts of hydrogen and helium.

Question 17

After the Earth was formed

A) it was bombarded by huge chunks of rock.
B) outgassing ended.
C) its atmosphere remained virtually unchanged.
D) the densest materials collected as the Earth's crust.
E) its temperature was too cold to support life.

Question 18

According to the nebular hypothesis, the solar system began as

A) a rapidly rotating sun.
B) a cloud of dust and gas.
C) a cloud containing approximately equal amounts of all naturally occurring elements.
D) two comets that collided with a tremendous impact.
E) a vast area of totally empty space.

Question 19

In our solar system, we can say that moons

A) were most likely formed by spinning planets throwing off big chunks of material.
B) are all about the same size.
C) have less gravitational pull than that found on any planet.
D) usually have active volcanoes.
E) have been found orbiting all planets except for Mercury and Venus.

Question 20

Scientists study meteorites

A) because they contain the material from which the solar system was made.
B) to find out more about how and when the Earth was created.
C) to find out more about other parts of the solar system.
D) for all the above reasons.
E) Scientists cannot study meteorites because they burn up when they hit the Earth's atmosphere.

Question 21

Describe the Galileo mission to Jupiter.

Question 22

Explain how the early Earth's atmosphere must have been very different from the atmosphere we are breathing now?

Question 23

Even though Saturn's size is about eight Earth diameters, your weight (by Earth's standards) would be about the same if you stood on Saturn's 'surface.' What does this suggest about the composition of the ringed planet?

Question 24

What is the current hypothesis that explains why planets differ in their axis of rotation and direction of spin?

Question 25

How are asteroids different from comets?

Question 26

How can meteor showers be predicted?

A) Meteors follow the jet stream in the upper atmosphere.
B) Meteors are in known orbits around the Sun.
C) Meteors rise in the east and set in the west.
D) Telescopes on satellites detect meteors months in advance of their entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
E) Calculations made by the Divine Calculator have been used to produce meteor shower schedules.

Question 27

Explain how the 'seasons' would be represented on Uranus.

Question 28

If the nebular hypothesis is correct, then what physical and chemical aspects of the solar system does it account for?

Question 29

Why do scientists think there may have been life on Mars?

Question 30

What was accomplished by Voyager 1 and Voyager 2?

A) remote sensing of the atmosphere of Venus
B) collected samples from the asteroid belt
C) paved the way for the Moon landings
D) clocked winds on Mercury
E) assessment of the outer Solar System environment

Question 31

Discuss the apparent conflict between the nebulae hypothesis and the rotations of planets.

Question 32

What new astronomical information resulted from the impact of the comet Shoemaker-Levy on Jupiter in 1994?

A) effect of hydrogen bombs on Jupiter's atmosphere
B) composition of atmosphere beneath the planet's surface
C) the number of volcanoes located within 100 km of the impact
D) amount of water in Jupiter's atmosphere
E) mineral analysis of Jupiter's core

Question 33

By what process was the layered structure of the differentiated Earth formed?

Question 34

Explain the relationship between meteor showers and comets.

Question 35

Transfer of material from space to Earth

A) stopped after the great bombardment.
B) started after the great bombardment.
C) has been measured at 20 metric tons daily.
D) will double the mass of the Earth in 4 billion years.
E) continues at an estimated rate of 40 metric tons annually.

Question 36

Which of the following characteristics does the Earth share with all other bodies in the solar system?

A) formed from matter ejected by the Sun
B) move in circular orbits
C) similar chemical composition
D) equally dense
E) gravitationally bound to the Sun

Question 37

Describe how the scientific process led to the discovery of Pluto.

Question 38

How important are volcanoes to the creation of an atmosphere? Use several examples from our solar system in your answer.

Question 39

Both the Earth and Moon have craters but the smaller Moon has millions more than the Earth. If they both formed at the same time and under similar conditions, how can you account for this discrepancy?

Question 40

Explain the processes in the evolution of the Earth's atmosphere beginning with Earth as an airless, molten ball.

Question 41

What is the density of the Moon and to what part of Earth is this density comparable?

Question 42

Which planets are the "gas giants"?

Question 43

What peculiar physical and chemical characteristics does the impact collision hypothesis for the origin of Earth's Moon explain?

Question 44

Compare the surface of Jupiter's moons Io and Europa.

Question 45

How has the status of Pluto changed in recent years as a body in our solar system?

Question 46

What is the consensus view today about the question of life on Mars?

Question 47

Describe the size, shape, composition, temperature, and pressure of Earth's inner core.

Question 48

From where in the solar system are comets thought to come from?

Question 49

How is the nebular disk related to the plane of orbits of the eight planets?