History

1. Which of the following is not a contribution of the Babylonians?

a. established the 12 month calendar

b. developed a number system based on 60

c. time keeping

d. accurately knew the length of the year

e. explained eclipses.*

2. Which of the following is (are) NOT a product of Babylonian astronomy?

a. accurate tables of planet positions

b. recognition of variations in planetary cycles

c. arithmetic methods of predicting planetary positions

d. geometric model of the solar system *

3. Which one of the following represents the ideas of Plato?

a. the Earth is flat

b. the Sun is at the center of the universe

c. planets are spheres moving in circular orbits

d. planets need not be spheres and need not move in circular orbits

e. planets are affixed to transparent, rotating ethereal spheres.*

4. Aristotle

a. was the first great observational astronomer

b. stated physical laws and then attempted to use them to explain how the universe works*

c. discovered the first four elements in the periodic table of elements

d. taught Plato the basic laws of nature.

5. Which of the following principles led Aristotle to place the Earth at the center of the universe?

a. The natural ordering of the four elements.*

b. The natural motion of Earth-like objects to fall toward the center of the universe.

c. The natural motion of celestial bodies is rotation.

d. Forces are required to maintain motion only on the Earth.

e. a and b above

6. Aristarchus

a. was the first to suggest that the Sun was the center of the universe*

b. was the teacher of Aristotle

c. proved the Earth was round

d. developed astrology to where it is today.

7. Which of the following Greek natural philosophers would agree that the Earth is spherical.

a. Pythagoras

b. Aristotle

c. Hipparchus

d. Aristarchus

e. All four*

8. Ptolemy

a. invented the calculus and used it to predict the positions of the planets at any given time

b. wrote books summarizing astronomical knowledge of earlier cultures*

c. was the first of the great Greek astronomers

d. first detected stellar parallax.

9. Which of the following geometric devices was used by Ptolemy to describe retrograde motion?

a. eccentrics alone

b. deferents alone

c. equants alone

d. epicycles plus deferents*

e. equants plus deferents

10. The first people to realize the Moon shown by reflected light were the

a. Greeks*

b. Babylonians

c. Chinese

d. American Indians

e. Hindus.

11. Ptolemy explained retrograde motion using

a. eccentrics

b. equants

c. epicycles*

d. rotation of all celestial spheres westward in one day

12. Ptolemy explained the daily motion of the heavens east to west with respect to the horizon using

a. eccentrics

b. equants

c. epicycles

d. rotation of all celestial spheres westward in one day*

13. Ptolemy explained variation in the eastward motion of the Moon, Sun, and planets using

a. eccentrics*

b. equants

c. epicycles

d. rotation of all celestial spheres westward in one day

14. Which of the following ancients produced a cosmology that is an example of a scientific model?

a. Ptolemy*

b. Babylonians

c. Anasazi

d. the author(s) of Genesis

e. All of these

15. The reason Copernicus became a "heliocentrist" was that

a. the evidence was overwhelmingly strong

b. the evidence was weak but gaining strength

c. it was philosophically pleasing to him*

d. the laws of physics as then understood indicated a heliocentric universe.

16. Which one of the following statements about the Copernican model is false:

a. it was more accurate than the Ptolemaic system in predicting planetary motions*

b. relative planetary distances could be deduced from it

c. relative planetary speeds could be determined from it

d. retrograde motion could be easily explained by it

e. none: all of the above statements are true.

17. One advantage that the Copernican model had over the Ptolemaic model is that it

a. was simpler

b. established an order and spacing for the planets*

c. introduced the idea of forces needed to keep them in their orbits

d. allowed much more accurate predictions of planetary positions

18. Copernicus explained retrograde motion using the

a. rotation of the Earth on its axis

b. Earth overtaking a celestial body*

c. motion of a celestial body around the Earth

d. Earth’s motion around the celestial body

19. Copernicus explained the daily motion of the heavens east to west with respect to the horizon using the

a. rotation of the Earth on its axis*

b. Earth overtaking a celestial body

c. motion of a celestial body around the Earth

d. Earth’s motion around the celestial body

20. Copernicus explained the Moon’s monthly motion using the

a. rotation of the Earth on its axis

b. Earth overtaking a celestial body

c. motion of a celestial body around the Earth*

d. Earth’s motion around the celestial body

21. Copernicus explained the yearly motion of the Sun through the zodiac using the

a. rotation of the Earth on its axis

b. Earth overtaking a celestial body

c. motion of a celestial body around the Earth

d. Earth’s motion around the celestial body*

22. How do the predictions of the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems differ for the variation in size of Venus?

a. The ancients could not observe a change in the size of the planet Venus.

b. The Ptolemaic system did not predict a change in size for the planet Venus.

c. The Copernican system naturally predicts variations in the size of the planet Venus from relative positions of Earth and Venus in their orbits around the Sun.

d. All of the above.*

e. None of the above.

23. Tycho Brahe's principle contribution to astronomy was

a. his being of noble blood

b. his suggested model for the solar system (which had a fixed Earth with the Sun revolving about it but the rest of the planets revolving about the Sun)

c. his observational accuracy and the completeness of his records*

d. his choice of Galileo as an assistant.

24. Which of the following is not an important contribution of Brahe:

a. improvement in instruments

b. discovery of the rings around Saturn*

c. very high precision observations

d. systematic observing over long periods of time

e. all the above were important contributions of Brahe.

25. Which of the following did the model of Copernicus and the model of Kepler have in common?

a. Planets move in elliptical orbits

b. Planets move around the Sun.*

c. The motions of the planets are uniform.

d. both a and b

e. both a and c

26. From his analysis of the motion of Mars, Kepler was able to conclude that

a. the planets move in circular orbits with the Sun at the center

b. the planets move with hyperbolic orbits

c. the planets move with uniform speed

d. the planets move with varying orbital speed*

e. Mars is always at the same distance from the Earth.

27. Kepler’s Law of Ellipses means

a. a planet moves more rapidly when near the Sun than when farther away

b. planets close to the Sun have shorter periods than those farther away

c. the Sun is at the center of planetary orbits

d. slowly moving planets are close to the Sun

e. the distance between the planet and the sun changes as the planet orbits the sun.*

28. In simple language, Kepler's Law of Equal Areas means

a. a planet moves more rapidly when near the Sun than when farther away*

b. planets close to the Sun have shorter periods than those farther away

c. the Sun is at the center of planetary orbits

d. slowly moving planets are close to the Sun

e. the planet moves on a non-circular orbit

29. In non-mathematical terms, Kepler's Harmonic Law says that

a. a planet moves more rapidly when near the Sun than when farther away

b. planets close to the Sun have shorter periods than those farther away*

c. the Sun is at the center of planetary orbits

d. slowly moving planets are close to the Sun.

e. the planet moves on a non-circular orbit

30. To which of the following astronomical systems may Kepler's Harmonic Law be applied:

a. the motion of a satellite around a planet

b. the motion of a comet around the Sun

c. the motion of one star about another (in a binary star system)

d. the motion of one galaxy about another (in a galactic cluster)

e. all of the above*

31. One reason that Kepler might be called the first astrophysicist rather than Copernicus is that

a. Kepler's model did not require circular orbits for planets.

b. Kepler's model was simpler than that of Copernicus.

c. Kepler's model predicted planetary positions with greater accuracy.

d. Kepler considered a physical cause that governed the motions of the planets. *

32. What was the most important advantage of Kepler’s model over that of Copernicus?

a. It was geocentric

b. It was heliocentric

c. It used gravity to explain planetary motions

d. It was more accurate in predicting planetary positions*

e. It did not have epicycles and deferents.

33. Which of the following has the greatest mass:

a. 100 lbs of goose feathers

b. 100 lbs of lead

c. a 100 lb person

d. they all have the same mass.*

34. While on the Moon, the Apollo astronauts demonstrated Galileo's experiment at the Leaning Tower of Pisa by dropping a feather and a hammer. They reached the ground at the same time because

a. the force of gravity is larger on the feathers than on the hammer

b. the force of gravity has no effect on either object

c. the acceleration of each object is the same*

d. the astronauts showed Galileo's experiment to be false.

35. Which of the following did Galileo not discover?

a. Phases of Venus.

b. Moons of Jupiter.

c. Sunspots

d. Mountains and valleys on the Moon.

e. The parallax of stars.*

36. Galileo's observations of the crescent phase of Venus proved

a. that Venus orbited the sun. *

b. that Earth orbited the sun.

c. that all of the planets orbited the sun.

d. that the moon orbited Earth

e. that Venus had an atmosphere.

37. Galileo's telescopic discoveries of mountains on the moon and spots on the sun were controversial because they suggested that the sun and moon

a. were the same kind of object.

b. were not perfect spheres. *

c. were inhabited.

d. orbited each other.

e. did not orbit Earth.

38. According to Newton’s Laws of Motion, a 1965 Ford Mustang is undergoing natural motion when:

a. it moves along a smoothly-curved path

b. its speed changes at a uniform rate

c. it stops and remains motionless for a while

d. it moves at a constant speed along a straight line*

e. it moves at a constant speed along a curved line

39. If the size of the Earth were to double (with the mass unchanged) a person's weight would

a. double

b. be cut in half

c. increase by 4 times

d. decrease by 4 times*

e. be unchanged.

40. Suppose you are an astronaut taking a space walk to fix your spacecraft with a hammer. Your life-line breaks and the jets on your backpack are out of fuel. How could you return your spacecraft (without the help of someone else)? (Neglect altitude differences)

a. point your magnetic boots toward the ship and allow the magnetic force to pull you back

b. throw your hammer in disgust at the space ship

c. throw your hammer away from the space ship*

d. fling your arms around in circles

e. kiss your ship good-bye!

41. Newton's mathematical statement of Kepler's Harmonic Law is useful to astronomers because it allows us to determine

a. the mass of a celestial body*

b. the distance to a celestial body

c. the diameter of a celestial body

d. the surface gravity of a celestial body

e. the rotation period of a celestial body

42. Suppose a planet is discovered that is 9 times further away form the Sun than the Earth is, but it has the same mass as the Earth. How strong is the gravitational force between the Sun and the new planet?

a. the same as between the Sun and the Earth

b. 1/9 times as much as between the Sun and the Earth

c. 9 times as much as between the Sun and the Earth

d. 1/81 times as much as between the Sun and the Earth*

e. 81 times as much as between the Sun and the Earth

43. As a ball of gas collapses, its rotational speed increases. This can be explained by

a. Newton's Law of Action and Reaction

b. conservation of angular momentum*

c. Kepler's Harmonic Law

d. the law of gravity.

44. What is the period of an object orbiting 1 A.U. from a 9-solar mass star?

a. 1/9 year

b. 1/6 year

c. 1/3 year*

d. 1 year

e. None of the above.

45. The occupants of Planet X note that they are 1 greel from their sun (a greel is the Planet X unit of length), and orbit with a period of 1 fleel. They observe Planet Y, which orbits in 8 fleels. How far is Planet Y from their sun (in greels)?

a. 1 greel

b. 4 greels*

c. 8 greels

d. 64 greels

e. None of the above.

46. Which of the following observations proved that the Ptolemaic model of the solar system is wrong?

a. Kepler's discovery that the planets have elliptical orbits around the Sun.

b. Foucault's proof, using the motion of a pendulum, that the Earth is rotating on its axis.

c. Bessel's discovery of stellar parallaxes

d. All of the above.*

e. None of the above.