Question 1

Which sequence is correct when ordered by increasing size?

Accepted Answer

A)  Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, clusters of galaxies 
B)  Solar System, Earth, galaxy clusters, Milky Way Galaxy 
C)  Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Solar System, galaxy clusters 
D)  Galaxy clusters, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth

Question 2

Describe the difference between a solar system and a galaxy.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe the difference between a solar system...

Question 3

"I live 20 minutes from Center City." How is this statement similar to giving astronomical distances in light-years?

Accepted Answer

The answer of "I live 20 minutes from Center City."...

Question 4

The diameter of a typical star (the sun) is approximately ____ times larger than the diameter of a typical planet (the Earth).

Accepted Answer

A)  10 
B)  100 
C)  1000 
D)  10,000 
E)  100,000

Question 5

It takes light 1.3 seconds to travel from the moon to Earth and 8 minutes to travel from the sun to Earth. Which of the following statements is true?

Accepted Answer

A)  The sun is 6.2 times further from Earth than the moon. 
B)  The sun is 10 times further from Earth than the moon. 
C)  The sun is 0.16 times further Earth than the moon 
D)  The sun is 0.10 times further from Earth that the moon. 
E)  The sun is 370 times further from Earth than the moon.

Question 6

How is a planet different than a star?

Accepted Answer

A)  Planets are larger than stars. 
B)  Planets reflect light while stars produce their own light. 
C)  Stars move faster in the sky than planets. 
D)  Planets are brighter than stars.

Question 7

Earth has a radius of about 6400 km, the sun has a radius of about 7.0*105 km, and a rubber ball has a radius of 6.4 cm. If you were to construct a scale model of the solar system using the rubber ball to represent Earth, what is the radius of a ball needed to represent the sun in your model?

Accepted Answer

A)  7.0*105 cm 
B)  7.0 cm 
C)  700 cm 
D)  70 cm 
E)  7000 cm

Question 8

How many centimeters are there in one kilometer?

Accepted Answer

A)  100 
B)  1,000 
C)  10,000 
D)  100,000 
E)  1*106

Question 9

A(n) ____________________ is a collection of billions of stars.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A(n) ____________________ is a collection of billions...

Question 10

Which of these is NOT a common misconception?

Accepted Answer

A)  A light year is a unit of time. 
B)  Stars look like disks when seen through a telescope 
C)  A galaxy is a star plus its planets. 
D)  All of the above are misconceptions.

Question 11

A light-year is the distance light travels in one year.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 12

Assume a 100-yard football field represents the 14-billion-year history of the universe with one end as the origin and the other end representing the present. The existence of human beings will extend from ____ to the present "goal line."

Accepted Answer

A)  the 50-yard line 
B)  the 5-yard line 
C)  the one-yard line 
D)  the one-inch line

Question 13

Why would the English system of units be more useful if a foot contained 10 inches?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Why would the English system of units...

Question 14

In the diagram below, what is the diameter of Mercury?

Accepted Answer

A)  about 240 km 
B)  about 2400 km 
C)  about 24,000 km 
D)  about 240,000 km 
E)  about 2.4*106 km

Question 15

The average distance from Earth to the sun is

Accepted Answer

A)  1 ly. 
B)  1 million km. 
C)  1 million miles. 
D)  1 billion km. 
E)  1 AU.

Question 16

A(n) ____________________ is the distance that light would travel in one year.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A(n) ____________________ is the distance that light...

Question 17

The speed of light is 3.0*105 km/s, and it takes 1.3 s for light to travel from the moon to Earth. From this information, what is the distance to the moon?

Accepted Answer

A)  390,000 km 
B)  230,000 km 
C)  3.9 km 
D)  2.3 km 
E)  4.3*105 km

Question 18

The Milky Way Galaxy is

Accepted Answer

A)  a spiral galaxy. 
B)  part of a cluster of galaxies that contains a few dozen galaxies. 
C)  about 80,000 light years in diameter. 
D)  all of the above.

Question 19

Assume the size of the sun is represented by a baseball with the Earth is about 15 meters (150 million km or 8 light minutes) away. How far away, to scale, would the nearest stars to the sun be? Pick the closest answer.

Accepted Answer

A)  about the distance between New York and Boston (330 km) 
B)  100 meters away 
C)  about the distance across the United States from New York to Los Angeles (4300 km) 
D)  about the distance across 50 football fields (50 * 100 m)

Question 20

The sun is

Accepted Answer

A)  a star which generates its own energy. 
B)  1 AU from Earth. 
C)  visible by its own light emission. 
D)  all of the above.

Exam 1: Here and Now