Sample Test

 1) How are wavelength, frequency, and energy related for photons of light?

a) Longer wavelength means higher frequency and lower energy.

b) Longer wavelength means lower frequency and higher energy.

c) Longer wavelength means lower frequency and lower energy.

d) There is no simple relationship because different photons travel at different speeds.

 2) From shortest to longest wavelength, which of the following correctly orders the different categories of electromagnetic radiation?

a) gamma rays, X rays, ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, radio

b) infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X rays, gamma rays, radio

c) visible light, infrared, X rays, ultraviolet, gamma rays, radio

d) gamma rays, X rays, visible light, ultraviolet, infrared, radio

 3) Which of the following statements about X rays and radio waves is not true?

  a) X rays have higher energy than radio waves.

  b) X rays have higher frequency than radio waves.

  c) X rays and radio waves are both forms of light, or electromagnetic radiation.

  d) X rays have shorter wavelengths than radio waves.

  e) X rays travel through space faster than radio waves.

4) What is the ecliptic?

a) when the Moon passes in front of the Sun

b) the Sun's apparent path along the celestial sphere

c) the Sun's daily path across the sky

d) the Moon's apparent path along the celestial sphere

5) When an electron goes from a higher energy state to a lower energy state, the atom

a) can absorb a photon of any frequency.

b) emits a photon of a specific frequency.

c) absorbs a photon of a specific frequency.

d) can emit a photon of any frequency.

6) When an atom absorbs a photon containing energy, any of the following can happen except which?

  a) An electron moves from a lower energy level to an upper one.

  b) The atom becomes excited.

  c) An electron moves from an upper energy level to a lower one.

  d) The atom is ionized.

 7) When an atom loses an electron, it becomes

a) ionized

b) dissociated

c) a plasma

d) an isotope

8) A telescope's light-collecting area can be increased by

            a) using an eyepiece with a longer focal length.

            b) increasing the diameter of the telescope.

            c) using an eyepiece with a shorter focal length.

            d) increasing the length of the telescope.

9) Compared to a refracting telescope, a reflecting telescope

            a) uses lenses instead of mirrors.                       

            b) uses mirrors instead of lenses

            c) is less commonly used for astronomical research.

            d) has more trouble seeing through atmospheric turbulence.

            e) cannot be built as large.

 10) If you heat a gas so that collisions are continually bumping electrons to higher energy levels, when the electrons fall back to lower energy levels the gas produces

 a) X rays.

 b) thermal radiation.

 c) radio waves.

 d) an absorption line spectrum.

 e) an emission line spectrum.

Shown above is an image of the Ring Nebula.  "A" represents the gaseous nebula; "B" represents the hot (100,000 degree Kelvin) white dwarf (thermal radiator) seen with no gas in front of it; and "C" represents a star much hotter than the nebula but lying hundreds of light years beyond the nebula.

 For which of these objects would you expect to observe

              11) a continuous spectrum?   ____________

              12) an emission spectrum?     ____________

              13) an absorption spectrum?   ___________

 14) Which of the following scenarios correctly demonstrates the transformation of mass into energy as given by Einstein's equation, E = mc2?

a) A burning piece of wood produces light and heat, therefore giving off radiative and thermal energy.

b) When hydrogen is fused into helium, whether in the Sun or in a nuclear bomb, the mass difference is turned into energy.

c) A mass raised to a great height has a lot of gravitational potential energy.

d) When you boil a pot of water, it has a high heat content, or thermal energy.

15) Which of the following is an important part of the reason it is hotter in summer than in winter?

a) The Earth is closer to the Sun in summer

b) The Sun’s rays hit the Earth more directly in the Summer, and spread out less

c) The nights are much longer in summer, allowing temperatures to stabilize

d) We see the full Sun in summer, instead of one of its partial phases

 16) Which of the following travels through space the fastest?

a) Visible light

b) Radio waves

c) X-rays

d) All forms of electromagnetic radiation travel at the same speed

17) Magnitude is a measure of a star’s

a) Size

b) Mass

c) Temperature

d) Brightness

 19) Stars are born

a)   in cold, dark molecular clouds

b)        in hot, extremely dense clouds of He

c)        in rarified, glowing clouds of H

d)        in cold He clouds devoid of dust

 20) A protostar is hot because

a) it is contracting

b) it is fusing H to He

c) it is fusing He to Carbon

d) it is expanding

 21) If a certain star has a very high luminosity (100,000 times the Sun’s) while its temperature is quite cool (3500 K, red in color), what does this tell you?

a) It must be a main sequence star

b) It must be quite small in size

c) It must be quite large in size

d) No such star can exist

 Matching: Match the correct definition to the terms listed below.

Terms:

22) Meridian                                                       ______ 

23) Celestial sphere                                            ______ 

24) Neutron                                                        ______              

25) Full Moon                                                     ______ 

26) Electromagnetic spectrum                              ______ 

27) Declination                                                    ______ 

28) Spectrum                                                      ______ 

29) Ion                                                               ______ 

30) New Moon                                                    ______ 

 Definitions:

(a)      Apparent sphere of the sky

(b)      The imaginary line on the celestial sphere that that passes through an observer’s zenith and the north or south point on the horizon

(c)       A subatomic particle with no charge

(d)       The array of colors obtained when light from a source is dispersed

(e)       An atom that has become electrically charged by the addition or loss of one or more electrons

(f)         Angular distance north or south of the celestial equator

(g)       The whole array of electromagnetic waves, from radio to gamma rays

(h)       The phase of the Moon when the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth

(i)         The phase of the Moon when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun

 1)        Which star in the table above would appear the faintest in the night sky?

            A          B          C          D          E

 2)        Which star in the table above would appear brightest in the night sky?

            A          B          C          D          E

 3)        Which star in the table above has the lowest surface temperature?

            A          B          C          D          E

 4)        Which star in the table above is the farthest from Earth?

            A          B          C          D          E

 5)        Which star in the above table has the smallest diameter?

            A          B          C          D          E

 6)        Which star in the above table is closest to Earth?

            A          B          C          D          E

 7)        Which star in the above table is a main sequence star?

            A          B          C          D          E

 8)        Which star in the above the above table has the greatest diameter?

            A          B          C          D          E

 9)        Which star in the table above is 10 parsecs away?

            A          B          C          D          E

10)     Which star in the table above has the highest surface temperature?

            A          B          C          D          E