Chapter 4 – Space Flashcard
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Which of the following kinds of object resides closest to the Sun on average?
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asteroids
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Planetary orbits are
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fairly circular and in the same plane.
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How many of the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction as Earth does?
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all
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Which have more moons on average?
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jovian planets
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All four of the giant outer planets-Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune-have rings.
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True
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All the planets in the solar system have at least one moon.
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False
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The more massive planets in the solar system tend to be less dense than the lower mass planets.
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True
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All the planets in the solar system rotate in the same direction as they orbit the Sun.
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False
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Suppose the Sun were suddenly to shrink in size but that its mass remained the same. According to the law of conservation of angular momentum, what would happen?
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The Sun would rotate faster than it does now.
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Which planet listed below has the most extreme seasons?
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Uranus
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The following statements are all true. Which one counts as an "exception to the rule" in being unusual for our solar system?
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The diameter of Earth's Moon is about 1/4 that of Earth.
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Which of the following lists the planets of our solar system in the correct order from closest to farthest from the Sun?
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Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
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The planet in our solar system with the highest average surface temperature is ________.
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Venus
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Which of the following is not a characteristic of the outer planets?
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They have very few, if any, satellites.
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The terrestrial planets are made almost entirely of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. According to modern science, where did these elements come from?
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They were produced by stars that lived and died before our solar system was born.
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Which ingredients made up about 98% of the solar nebula?
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hydrogen and helium
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In which list are the major steps of solar system formation in the correct order?
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gravitational collapse of the solar nebula, condensation, accretion
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Which of the following changes did not occur during the collapse of the solar nebula?
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concentrating denser materials nearer the Sun
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What is the leading hypothesis for the origin of the Moon?
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It formed from the material ejected by a giant impact on Earth.
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Which of the following types of material can condense into what we call ice at low temperatures?
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hydrogen compounds
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What do we mean by the frost line when we discuss the formation of planets in the solar nebula?
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It is a circle at a particular distance from the Sun, beyond which the temperature was low enough for ice to condense.
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According to our theory of solar system formation, what are asteroids and comets?
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leftover planetesimals that never accreted into planets
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What is the giant impact hypothesis for the origin of the Moon?
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The Moon formed from material blasted out of Earth's mantle and crust by the impact of a Mars-size object.
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Suppose you start with 1 kilogram of a radioactive substance that has a half-life of 10 years. Which of the following statements will be true after 20 years pass?
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You'll have 0.25 kilogram of the radioactive substance remaining.
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According to modern scientific dating techniques, approximately how old is the solar system?
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4.5 billion years
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All planets orbit the Sun in the same direction (counterclockwise as viewed from above Earth's North Pole).
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True
