Choose the most correct answer for the following multiple-choice

Choose the most correct answer for the following multiple-choice
questions and record your answer on the answer sheet. Make sure to read all the choices carefully before choosing an answer.

1. Very few craters on a world’s surface tells you
a. The surface is old
b. The surface is young (i.e., recently recycled)
c. The world has a very weak magnetic field
d. The world itself is very young
e. The world itself is very old

2. Suppose there were a planet intermediate in size between Mercury and Mars. Which of the following would be true?
a. its orbital period would fall in between Mercury’s and Mars’s
b. its rotation period would fall in between Mercury’s and Mars’s
c. it would be active
d. it would be inactive (assuming no tidal forces)
e. it would have a magnetic field

3. The temperatures on Mercury go as low as about 100 K. Why is this?
a. Mercury is very distant from the sun resulting in low temperatures.
b. Mercury has little to no axial tilt.
c. Mercury undergoes synchronous rotation.
d. Mercury has no atmosphere to help keep heat in.
e. Mercury has no magnetic field to help keep heat in.

4. Possible fossilized bacteria were found in the 1990’s in a meteorite found on Earth that originated on
a. Mars
b. Venus
c. the Moon
d. Europa

5. The planet with the hottest surface temperature in the solar system is
a. Mercury
b. Venus
c. Earth
d. The sun
e. Mars

6. The reason that we see the same side of the Moon from the Earth is that the
a. Moon does not rotate
b. Moon does not revolve around the Earth.
c. Moon’s orbit is inclined at 5 degrees to the earth’s orbit.
d. Moon rotates once per revolution.
e. Moon’s rotational period is the same as the Earth’s rotational period,

7. Estimates from radioactive dating tell scientists the age of the solar system is about
a. 4.6 million years
b. 4.6 billion years
c. 14 billion years
d. 6,000 years

8. Lex Luthor devises a ray that turns Superman evil. The Man of Steel, just for kicks, moves Earth into an orbit closer to the sun, Which of the following would happen?
a. The Earth’s magnetic field would intensify.
b. The Earth would have more volcanic activity,
c. The earth would get around the sun in less than a year.
d. It would be harder for Earth to hold onto its atmosphere,
e. c and d

9. Pangaea was the first and only super continent, formed when the Earth formed, and breaking up only recently (200-250 million years ago).
a. True
b. False

10. The largest terrestrial planet is
a. Jupiter
b. Earth
c. Venus
d. Mercury
e. Mars

11. The smallest planet is
a. Mercury
b Venus
c. Earth
d. Mars

12.Suppose a high tide occurs at 6:00 a.m. Ideally, about when will the next low tide occur?
a. Noon
b. 6:00 p.m.
c. 6:00 a.m. the next day.
d. Midnight.
e. During the next new or full moon.

13. Plate motion on the Earth
a. Is responsible for most earthquakes and volcanic activity.
b. Has now stopped because the continents are in the right orientation.
c. Never results in continents colliding,
d. Opens oceans, but never closes them.
e. Is caused by the gravitational contraction of our planet.
14. At perigee, the moon would appear ___from the earth and the tides would be ____
a. larger; stronger,
b. smaller; stronger.
c smaller; weaker,
d. larger; weaker.

15. Neap tides occur in which lunar phases?
a. new
b. full
c. first quarter
d. third quarter
e. c or d

16. What is the origin of oxygen gas in the Earth’s atmosphere?
a. It was produced from the interaction of sunlight with hydrogen
b. It probably came from heating of surface rocks where it was absorbed
c. It was produced by photosynthesis (i.e., by green plants)
d. It was part of the original atmosphere of the Earth

17. What causes the Earth’s hot inner core to be solid and not melt?
a. The Earth’s core is molten, not solid
b. The innermost part of the core consists of materials that are very hard to melt
c. The temperature at the center of the core is lower than the outer core
d. The pressure at the inner core causes the atoms to bond together and form a solid
e. Radioactivity causes the molten material to solidify

18. Tides occur due to the ______ forces (mostly) from the ________.
a. total gravitational; moon
b. total gravitational; sun
c. differential gravitational; moon
d. differential gravitational; sun
e. electromagnetic; moon

19. The process by which a planet organizes itself into layers, with heavier materials sinking to the middle, is called
a. Plate Tectonics
b. Convection
c. Precession
d. Differentiation
e. Continental Drift.

20. The ______ are two doughnut-shaped rings of charged particles trapped by the Earth’s magnetic field.
a. Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australis
b. Van Allen radiation belts
c. Geo-synchronous orbits.

21. 21% of the air in this room is
a. Nitrogen
b. Oxygen
c. Carbon dioxide
d. Ozone
e. Water vapor

22. The process in which two tectonic plates are moving away from each other is called
a. rifting
b. subduction
c. differentiation
d. convection
e. accretion
23. The lowest layer of the earth’s atmosphere is the
a. troposphere
b. stratosphere
c. mesosphere
d. ionosphere

24. The lunar maria are believed to have originated as
a. Bodies of water, now dried up.
b. Lava flows.
c. Uplifted plains (highlands)
d. Areas eroded by wind before the Moon lost its atmosphere.

25. The ozone layer protects us from
a. ultraviolet radiation,
b. infrared radiation.
c. fluorocarbons.
d. none of the above.

26. The interior layers of the earth are, from bottom to top:
a. crust, core, mantle
b. mantle, crust, core
c. crust, mantle, core
d core, mantle, crust
e. mantle, core, crust

27. Think about the moon’s rotation. If the period of rotation were decreased,
a. the moon would lose its gravity,
b. we could sometimes see the far side of the moon.
c. Maria would form on the far side.
d. the tides would be dramatically affected.
e. the moon would generate a magnetic field.

28. If the Earth suddenly cooled off inside, which of the following would happen?
a. Volcanic activity would end.
b. Plate tectonics would end.
c. The magnetic field would die out.
d. All of the above.
e. None of the above

29. Think about the moon. If it were twice as far away, which of the following would be true?
a. The tides would be weaker.
b. It would be active
c. Total eclipses of the sun would never be viewed.
d. All of the above.
e. a and c
30. Imagine you are on the moon 4.3 billion years ago. Which would be true?
a. The moon would be active,
b. There would be many more meteors striking the moon than now.
c. The moon would have a huge magnetic field,
d. All of the above.
e. a & b

Part Two
Problems (5 points)

Answer the following question on the Answer Sheet. Show all work for full credit.

1.Planet A has a radius of 6,000 km and a mass of 6 x 1024 kg. Planet B has a radius of 1,500 km and a mass of 1.5 x 1022 kg. Which of the planets is more likely to have a large metal core? Show your work. (Hint: consider converting the units to centimeters and grams, respectively, first.)

Part Three
Short Answer (5 points each)

Answer THREE of the following questions on the Answer Sheet. Show all work for full credit. Please do not answer them out of order, and please do not answer more than three.

1. How do scientists now think the moon formed? Write a short paragraph explaining the model, including at least one feature of the moon the model explains.

2. Explain the greenhouse effect, and how this relates and/or differs from global warming.

3. Explain how the earth’s magnetic field is thought to be generated.

4. How do scientists think the solar system formed? Include at least one feature of the solar system this explains.

5.Discuss plate tectonics, including the mechanism causing it, as well as at least one ramification of the process.

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