Name: ________________________________ Class: ________________________ Date: _________

Unit 5: Astronomy TestSection I: Understanding

1. What is the scientific definition of the term “gravity?”a. The interaction of electric currents or fields and magnetic fields.b. A force of repulsion, usually stronger between the most distant objects.c. A natural phenomenon by which physical bodies attract with a force

proportional to their mass.d. The amount of matter in an object.

2. Newton's discoveries regarding gravity include a famous formula as well as a method for converting units. Which box below displays both correctly?

3. The Ancient Greeks believed that winter was caused by the goddess Persephone, who left Earth to visit the underworld from December to March each year. In reality, Earth's seasons are caused by...

a. Earth traveling closer to the Sun during the summertime.b. Earth being tilted toward/away-from the Sun at different times of the year.c. The Sun's decreased solar energy during the winter months.d. All of the above.

4. Earth’s change in tides is primarily caused by…a. Wind and waves. c. The beach absorbing water.b. Storm surge. d. Gravity from the moon.

5. The Turko-Tatar tribe believed that each night, God covered the world with a tent and that the nighttime stars were simply holes in that tent. In the modern day, we know the nighttime stars are actually… a. Asteroids. b. Planets. c. Faraway suns. d. Distant galaxies.

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Answer Key:(4 points each)

1. ____2. ____3. ____4. ____5. ____6. ____7. ____8. ____9. ____10. ____11. ____12. ____13. ____14. ____15. ____16. ____17. ____18. ____19. ____20. ____

6. Objects in space come in all different sizes. Which of the lists below is in order from smallest to largest?a. Star, asteroid, moon, planet. c. Planet, star, asteroid, moon.b. Moon, planet, star, asteroid. d. Asteroid, moon, planet, star.

7. The following diagrams shows the eight planets in our solar system, in order, with their sizes to scale. Which planet is the one with the arrow above it?

a. Earth b. Neptune. c. Jupiter. d. Venus.

8. Which of the following statements about our moon is not true?a. It can cause eclipses. c. We landed on it during the Apollo 11 mission.b. It is the only moon in the solar system. d. It orbits a planet rather than a star.

9. What process is responsible for the formation of solar systems?a. Gravitational clumping. c. Electromagnetism. e. Cold fusion.b. Density. d. Atomic bonds.

10. Which of the following diagrams most accurately represents the sizes and positions of the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon?

(c)(a)

(d)(b)

Section II: Applying11. Which statement below (regarding the sun-Earth-moon system) is incorrect?

a. The Sun orbits the Earth every 365.25 days.b. The Earth rotates once every 24 hours.c. The moon orbits the Earth once every 29.5 days.d. All of them are incorrect.

12. The planet Mars has a mass of 6.39×1023 kg. It has a volume of 1.63 × 1020 cubic meters. And it has a radius of 3,389,278 meters. What is the acceleration due to gravity on Mars?

a. About 1.3 m/s2 b. About 3.7 m/s2 c. About 4.9 m/s2 d. About 9.8 m/s2 e. None of the above.

13. What is the date in the diagram to the right?a. March 20th b. June 21st c. September 22nd d. December 21st

14. A scientist once said, “It’s roughly the same size as Earth and is also a terrestrial planet. And it’s actually the hottest planet, even though it’s not the closest to the sun! This is due to its thick atmosphere, which is made up of over 96% carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas).” Which planet were they talking about?

a. Venus. b. Mercury. c. Neptune. d. Mars. e. None of the above.

15. How many of each object are there in the solar system to the right?

a. 1 star, 4 planets, 3 moons.

b. 3 stars, 2 planets, 3 moons.

c. 1 star and 7 planets.

d. 1 planet and 7 moons.

e. 1 star, 6 planets, 1 moon.

f. 7 planets and 1 moon.

16. Which of the diagrams below has the high and low tides labeled correctly?

17. “We used a flashlight to play the role of the sun. Then we used a clipboard with graph paper to keep track of how much area was lit up. As we increased the angle of the clipboard, the light was ____________ more and more. And the amount of energy absorbed by each square of the graph paper decreased. This was just like what we experience in Marshfield in the ___________. The sun produces the same amount of light, but we only receive a small amount, and it is spread out across the entire town, so it feels much weaker.”

Which pair of terms below correctly completes the paragraph above?a. Spread out… summer. c. Condensed… summer. e. Absorbed… summer.b. Spread out… winter. d. Condensed… winter. f. Absorbed… winter.

18. During one of his moon walks, astronaut David Scott performed a very famous experiment. He took a hammer is one hand and a feather in the other, and he dropped them onto the surface of the moon. Which one hit the ground first?

a. The hammer, because it had more mass.b. The feather, because of air resistance.c. It was a tie, because gravity accelerates all objects equally.d. Neither hit the ground, because the moon is zero-gravity.

19. In the Baltic countries, there was a legend that each and every person had their own star in the night sky. And when that person died, their star would fall from the sky; it would shoot across the heavens above and disappear into the afterlife. To this day, many Baltic people still say “rest in peace” upon seeing a shooting star. But what are shooting stars really?

a. Planets. b. Moons. c. Asteroids. d. Other galaxies. e. None of the above.

20. During the movie Apollo 13, how many astronauts were aboard the spaceship?

a. Zero b. One c. Two d. Three e. Four f. Five

(c)(b)(a)

a.

Section III: The Real World (10 points each)

21. Below is some real-world data concerning a planet called Kepler-22b, discovered in 2011. Discuss whether humans could potentially live on Kepler 22b.

22. Below is some real-world data concerning the Trappist solar system, discovered in 2017. Specifically, we will focus on the planet Trappist-1f, which is said to be the most interesting planet in this new solar system. Discuss whether humans could potentially live on Trappist-1f.

Sadly, a lot of the data above is fiction. We have not yet been able to send probes to Kepler-22b or Trappist-1f :(