PHY 109: Astronomy and Cosmology The Solar System
Fall 2003 Prof. Cote's Website • Astronomy at Rutgers • Department of Physics & Astronomy • Rutgers University
Last updated December 8, 2003
Practice Final
Note that this exam was based on a different textbook that the one used this semester, so the emphasis on material may have been slightly different than in our course.
Click here for the solutions.
1. Outflow channels on Mars are thought to have been carved by catastrophic floods becausea) their many branching channels would collect water from a large area and funnel it into a single riverb) they empty into large ocean basins
c) Mars has a large amount of subsurface permafrost
d) the largest of them, Valles Marineris, stretches a quarter of the way around the planet
e) they have no tributaries and emerge at full size from their source regions
2. Which of the following is a TRUE statement about volcanic activity on the Earth and Mars?
a) both the Earth and Mars are more volcanically active today than in the pastb) Earth produced large volcanic cones, while Mars did not
c) the Earth has more widespread volcanic activity today than Mars
d) volcanic activity is associated with plate tectonics on both the Earth and Mars
e) neither planet had volcanic activity prior to about 3 billion years ago
3. Evidence that water ice is present below the surface of Mars even TODAY is
a) runoff channelsb) the formation of morning fog at low points of the Martian surface
c) the fluid appearance of the ejecta from some Martian craters
d) well-hidden permafrost on the Earth
e) outflow channels
4. The many-branched Martian runoff channels are found in heavily cratered terrain. Sometimes the channels cut though craters and sometimes craters cover the channels with their ejecta. From this you conclude that
a) the runoff channels are old and formed during the early heavy meteoritic bombardmentb) the runoff channels are old and formed before the early heavy meteoritic bombardment
c) the runoff channels formed after all of the craters
d) the channels cutting through the craters were created by water and the others were created lava flows
e) the craters and runoff channels formed recently, because otherwise water erosion would have completely erased the craters
5. Mars had a warmer climate during the first few 100 million years of its history because
a) decaying radioactive elements heated the surfaceb) clouds in an early dense atmosphere reflected a lot of sunlight
c) the early Sun was much brighter than it is today
d) of heating by extensive early volcanic activity
e) an early dense atmosphere produced greenhouse warming
6. Which of the following supports the claim that the results of the labeled release experiment do not imply the existence of life on Mars?
a) a heated soil sample did not produce gasb) the nutrient sample contained carbon 14, which is radioactive
c) a soil sample, moistened a second time, did not release additional gas
d) none of the soil samples produced any nitrogen gas
e) the results could not be duplicated in laboratories on Earth
7. Which of the following statements correctly describes the chemical composition of the Jovian and terrestrial planets?
a) the Jovian planets have a smaller proportion of water, ammonia, and methane than the terrestrial planetsb) the Jovian planets more closely resemble the Sun
c) the Jovian and terrestrial planets have similar compositions
d) the Jovian planets have a larger proportion of silicon and iron than terrestrial planets
e) the terrestrial planets have a larger proportion of hydrogen than the Jovian planets
8. Jupiter emits about twice as much energy as it absorbs from sunlight. What is the origin of the excess energy?
a) the greenhouse effectb) a slowing rotation rate of Jupiter
c) nuclear fusion reactions
d) energy stored from the formation of Jupiter
e) radioactive decay
9. Which of the following statements about the clouds on Jupiter and Saturn is INCORRECT?
a) dark belts and light zones run perpendicular to the equatorb) they show the presence of strong winds in the atmosphere
c) there are several decks separated by clear regions
d) spots and ovals are the locations of storms
e) one cloud deck consists primarily of water droplets
10. Which of the following is the best description of Jupiter's magnetosphere?
a) large, spherical in shape, obstructs the flow of the solar windb) strongly heats the Galilean moons and has a long tail pointing away from the Sun
c) smaller than the Earth's magnetosphere, but similar in shape except for a bulge at the equator
d) traps the solar wind in radiation belts and has a long tail pointing towards the Sun
e) larger than the Earth's magnetosphere, but similar in shape except for a bulge at the equator
11. If there is any rocky material in Jupiter and Saturn, where is it likely to be located?
a) uniformly distributed through the interiorsb) in atmospheric dust clouds
c) in solid continents floating in liquid metallic hydrogen
d) mixed in with the atmospheric gases
e) in the cores of the planets
12. Collisions between ring particles produce flat rings because
a) collisions produce the smallest orbital velocities for the particlesb) flat rings minimize the separation between particles
c) flat rings avoid collisions with orbiting moons
d) these are aligned with planetary magnetic fields
e) a thick ring requires intersecting particle orbits
13. We estimate the size of ring particles by
a) the size of the gaps in the ringsb) the color of the rings
c) the temperature of the rings
d) the size of their shadows on the planet below
e) how they scatter sunlight and radio waves
14. A narrow ring is
a) produced by an orbital resonance with a moonb) always composed of fine dust
c) always a complete, uniform circle around its planet
d) confined by two shepherd moons
e) always centered on the orbit of a large ring-moon
15. What is the evidence that Jupiter's moon Europa had liquid water or slushy ice below its solid ice surface until at least 1 billion years ago?
a) the small number of big craters on Europa's surfaceb) regions where a fluid erupted and covered surface features
c) rotated pieces of the surface
d) the low average density of Europa
e) the intense tidal heating of Europa
16. Which of the following correctly describes the atmosphere of Saturn's satellite, Titan?
a) thin, made of nitrogen, warmb) thin, made of nitrogen, cold
c) thick, made of nitrogen, warm
d) thick, made of nitrogen, cold
e) thin, made of carbon dioxide, warm
17. The planet whose ring system has the largest total mass is
a) Jupiterb) Uranus
c) Saturn
d) Neptune
e) Pluto
18. One way that astronomers estimate the sizes of the parent bodies of meteorites is by studying their composition. How else can we learn about the sizes of the parent bodies?
a) through radioisotopic datingb) through cosmic-ray exposure dating
c) by determining the relative numbers of stony, iron, and stony-iron meteorites
d) by studying the crystalline structure of iron meteorites
e) from tracking meteor orbits to identify the location in the solar system that the parent bodies originated
19. Comets and asteroids are composed of material
a) from a disrupted planet that was between Mars and Jupiterb) that has all been heated to high temperatures
c) that was never incorporated into planetary-mass objects
d) mostly ejected from planetary surfaces by large impacts
e) with the same average composition as Jupiter
20. The zodiacal light is caused by
a) emission from the hot solar windb) sunlight reflected from interplanetary dust
c) charged particles in the Earth's magnetosphere
d) comets too small to be seen individually
e) the glare from planets in the ecliptic
21. Which of the following best describes the material which makes up the nucleus of a comet?
a) dirty iceb) gaseous
c) metallic crystals
d) solid rock
e) nucleons
22. The Earth is struck by an asteroid 10 km in diameter about every
a) 50 million yearsb) 500,000 years
c) 5,000 years
d) 500 years
e) 5 years
23. Why would the global temperature drop if the Earth were struck by a comet several kilometers in diameter or larger?
a) the impact would move the Earth farther from the Sunb) the ices in the comet would increase the Earth's albedo
c) the resulting dust cloud would block out sunlight
d) the low temperature of the comet would chill the oceans
e) the impact would vaporize rock, increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
24. The alignment of planetary orbits in a single plane and their nearly circular shape can be explained by
a) a collision between our Sun and another starb) collisions between streams of gas in the solar nebula
c) orbital resonances between the planets
d) this being the only configuration of orbits that is stable for 4.6 billion years
e) gravitational interactions between the Sun and the planets
25. The reason why the terrestrial and the giant gaseous planets formed with different chemical compositions is
a) the terrestrial planets never became big enough to accrete icy planetesimalsb) the giant planets formed after the terrestrial planets
c) the inner solar nebula was hotter than the outer solar nebula
d) the gas in the inner solar nebula had a different chemical composition than the gas in the outer parts of the nebula
e) the giant planets formed before the terrestrial planets
26. Some of the planetary systems detected around nearby Sun-like stars differ dramatically from our own solar system because
a) they have roughly Jupiter-mass planets in orbits smaller than that of Mercuryb) they do not contain any planets with life
c) they contain only planets with masses equal to or smaller than the Earth's
d) they contain no asteroids and comets
e) the planetary orbits are not aligned in a single plane
27. The sequence of events forming the solar system is best described as
a) coagulation, accretion, condensation, and collapseb) collapse, condensation, coagulation, and accretion
c) accretion, coagulation, condensation, and collapse
d) fragmentation, condensation, collapse, and outgassing
e) outgassing, condensation, fragmentation, and collapse
28. The Galileo spacecraft used gravity assist between Earth and what planet/satellite to make its way to Jupiter?
a) Marsb) Mercury
c) Venus
d) Ceres
e) The Moon
29. The comets in the roughly spherical Oort cloud
a) formed near Uranus and Neptune and were thrown outwards by gravitational encountersb) formed at their current distances from the Sun
c) formed near the Earth and were thrown outwards by gravitational encounters
d) were captured from passing stars
e) never enter the inner solar system
30. The Moon and Earth formed at the same time. Why is the typical rock on the surface of the Earth much younger than the typical rock on the surface of the Moon?
a) the first lunar rocks to form were dense and sank to the center of the planetb) the Moon has much less iron than the Earth
c) the Moon has a higher rate of impact cratering than the Earth
d) the Moon has much less radioactive elements than the Earth
e) the interior of the Moon cooled off more quickly than the interior of the Earth
[ Return to Top of Page ]
Recommended web browser to view this site is Netscape Navigator 4.0 (or above) with video display supporting at least 256 colors.
High color (16 bit) or true color (24 bit) display is preferred.