Deck 10: Mercury and Venus

Question 1

Which planet is most like Venus in size and mass?

A)Earth
B)Mars
C)Mercury
D)Neptune

Answer 1

Earth

Question 2

Why did ejecta from impact craters travel farther from craters on the Moon than from craters on Mercury?

A)There is more air resistance on Mercury than on the Moon
B)The objects that struck Mercury were larger.
C)Mercury has a larger gravity than does the Moon
D)The curvature of the Moon is greater than that of Mercury

Answer 2

Mercury has a larger gravity than does the Moon

Question 3

Which of the following places has a crater density that is similar to that of Mercury?

A)Lunar maria
B)Lunar terrae
C)Venus
D)Earth

Answer 3

Lunar terrae

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the rotation of Venus?

A)Rapid and forward (prograde)
B)Rapid and backward (retrograde)
C)Slow and forward (prograde)
D)Slow and backward (retrograde)

Question 5

The Earth has a surface temperature of 300 K.The wavelength at which the Earth is brightest is 10 microns.The dayside of Mercury is brightest at 4 microns.Which of the following is closest to the temperature on the dayside of Mercury?

A)400 K
B)120 K
C)750 K
D)300 K

Question 6

The atmosphere on Mercury

A)Is mostly carbon monoxide
B)Is very thin compared to Earth's
C)Contains trace amounts of oxygen
D)Is so opaque that we cannot see the surface

Question 7

In which of the following circumstances can Mercury be observed?

A)Setting at sunset
B)Near the horizon at noon
C)High in the sky at midnight
D)Setting at sunrise

Question 8

Which of the following explanations best accounts for the high density of the planet Mercury?

A)Its material is compressed by high internal pressures
B)It contains a large fraction of iron and other metal
C)It has a large range of surface temperatures
D)It has a large gravity that compresses its surface layers

Question 9

Why are there more craters on Mercury,than on Venus,Earth,and Mars?

A)Large scale crustal motions enhance the cratering effect on Mercury.
B)Less large scale crustal motions preserve the existing craters on Mercury.
C)More collisions with Meteors have occurred on Mercury's surface,compared with Venus,Earth,and Mars.
D)Larger volcanic eruptions have occurred on Mercury's surface,compared with Venus,Earth,and Mars.

Question 10

What can be said regarding Mercury's surface temperature?

A)It is the hottest surface in the solar system.
B)The surface has the largest temperature differences in the solar system
C)The temperatures remain fairly constant between day and night.
D)Mercury's atmosphere holds in large quantities of heat,producing a high surface temperature.

Question 11

Why are the craters on Mercury generally larger than lunar craters?

A)There is more surface gravity on Mercury,compared to the Moon.
B)Meteroids are larger near Mercury's orbit.
C)Mercury had more volcanic activity than the Moon,producing more volcanic craters.
D)The larger lunar craters have been eroded away.

Question 12

On which planet(s)would an explorer see the Sun rise in the west?

A)Venus
B)Mercury
C)Mars
D)Mercury and Venus
E)Venus and Mars

Question 13

Why is Mercury difficult to observe?

A)It is very dim
B)It is always near the Sun in the sky
C)It is usually on the other side of the Sun from the Earth
D)It never rises until after midnight

Question 14

Why are there few spiral patterns seen in ultraviolet images of the clouds of Venus?

A)The rotation rate of Venus is very small
B)The clouds are constantly rising and falling
C)The clouds are not made of water droplets
D)Venus has no Moon to produce tides that make spiral patterns.

Question 15

Which of the following is true about Mercury's rotation?

A)Rotation period equals revolution period
B)Planet revolves 3 times for every 2 revolutions because of tidal resonance
C)Planet rotates retrograde in about 250 days
D)Orbital period is exactly half the rotational period

Question 16

Which of the following objects has a surface that least resembles that of Mercury?

A)Venus
B)The Moon
C)Mars
D)Callisto

Question 17

The scarps that cut across the surface of Mercury probably were

A)Cut by flowing lava
B)Produced by impacts
C)Formed when the crust buckled as Mercury cooled
D)Formed when crustal plates ran together during plate tectonics

Question 18

What is the explanation of the large density of Mercury?

A)There is a black hole at the center of Mercury
B)The interior is greatly compressed by Mercury's large gravity
C)Mercury has been compressed by numerous giant impacts
D)Mercury has a large iron-nickel core

Question 19

The surface temperature of Mercury is high primarily because of

A)Solar heating
B)A large greenhouse effect
C)Volcanic activity
D)Frequent meteoroid impacts

Question 20

How do we know that Mercury contains a higher percentage of iron than does the Earth?

A)The reddish color of its surface rocks indicates iron oxides
B)Its surface is very smooth and shiny
C)There are traces of gaseous iron in its atmosphere
D)Although it is smaller than Earth,its density is about the same

Question 21

The total amount of water in the atmosphere of Venus would cover the surface of the planet to what depth?

A)1 mm
B)3 cm
C)10 m
D)15 km

Question 22

Which of the following atmospheric gases accounts for the high surface temperature of Venus?

A)Oxygen
B)Argon
C)Carbon dioxide
D)Hydrogen

Question 23

The temperature on the surface of Venus is closest to

A)100 K
B)400 K
C)700 K
D)10,000 K

Question 24

What method has been used to map the surface of Venus?

A)Images from many landers
B)Orbiting radar
C)Careful visual measurements from the Earth
D)Infrared sensors on flyby missions

Question 25

What are the clouds of Venus made of?

A)Sulfuric acid droplets
B)Dry ice crystals
C)Water droplets
D)Ice crystals

Question 26

Why does the thick atmosphere of Venus lead to a high temperature at its surface?

A)The atmosphere reflects most sunlight back into space
B)High winds in the thick atmosphere generate frictional heating
C)The atmosphere blocks the escape of infrared radiation from Venus
D)There are heat-producing chemical reactions in Venus's atmosphere

Question 27

What evidence is there that the surface of Venus was covered by giant flows of lava a few hundred million years ago?

A)The surface is still hot
B)There are relatively few impact craters on Venus
C)Radioactive dating shows that the surface is a few hundred million years old
D)The cracks where lava reached the surface can be seen in radio maps

Question 28

Images of the surface of Venus show a surface that is

A)Littered with angular boulders
B)Sand-covered
C)Covered with small pebbles
D)Covered with a tar-like substance

Question 29

What evidence supports Venus having lost large quantities of water in the past?

A)Large erosion features on the surface.
B)Signs of water below the surface.
C)High atmospheric concentrations of deuterium relative to ordinary hydrogen in the atmosphere.
D)Observation of dry lake basins.

Question 30

Why does Venus appear featureless when viewed through a telescope?

A)It has a very thick cloud layer
B)It has permanent dust storms
C)Its atmosphere is so hot that shimmering distorts its image
D)Its surface reflects sunlight so well that it seems featureless

Question 31

The atmosphere of Venus is primarily made up of

A)Carbon dioxide.
B)Water vapor
C)Nitrogen.
D)Helium

Question 32

Venus's atmosphere contains much more carbon dioxide than does the atmosphere of the Earth.What has happened to the carbon dioxide that formerly was in the atmosphere of the Earth?

A)It is frozen in the polar caps
B)It has escaped into space
C)It is incorporated in surface rocks
D)It has been used in the consumption of fossil fuels

Question 33

Which of the following is the best description of most of the surface of Venus?

A)Steep-sided trenches
B)Rugged mountains
C)Jungles
D)Rolling plains

Question 34

What property of Venus may have contributed to its rapid loss of water?

A)Its slow rotation rate.
B)Its weak magnetic field
C)Its thick atmosphere
D)Its strong surface gravity

Question 35

Why is the surface of Venus so hot?

A)Infrared radiation emitted by the surface can't escape into space
B)Venus absorbs nearly all of the solar radiation that strikes it
C)Frequent volcanic eruptions heat the lower atmosphere
D)The surface is heated by radioactivity in surface rocks

Question 36

Why does Venus absorb less energy from the Sun than Earth?

A)Earth's atmosphere is thicker than the atmosphere of Venus.
B)More solar radiation strikes the Earth,relative to Venus.
C)The slow rotation rate of Venus prevents absorption of sunlight.
D)The thick clouds of Venus reflect most of the incoming solar energy.