More Sample Questions
16. It is sunset. You see the moon rising in the east. What is the approximate phase of the moon?
a. new
b. first quarter
c. third quarter
d. full
17. Copernicus said that we could not see the parallaxes of the stars because
a. the earth does not move
b. the stars are in retrograde motion
c. the stars are very far away
d. the stars do not move
18. If the moon were twice as far away from the earth as it actually is
a. It would go around the earth in less than four weeks
b. High tides would not be as high and low tides would not be as low
c. We would have an eclipse of the sun every month
d. We would weigh more if we were on the moon
19. A car moving around a circular racetrack at 100 miles per hour
a. has a changing speed
b. has a changing velocity
c. is not feeling an acceleration
d. is feeling an acceleration
e. (b) and (d) above
f. all of the above
20. Suppose that the gravity of the sun pulls on the earth with a force of 12 units. If the
earth were 2 AU from the sun, then the sun’s gravity would exert a force of
a. 1 unit
b. 3 units
c. 6 units
d. 12 units
21. Isaac Newton’s laws of motion are called “universal laws” because
a. they apply to every mass, no matter where it is located
b. they apply only to objects moving in the heavens
c. they conserve angular momentum
d. they apply to all masses on the surface of the earth
22. Which of the following lists the astronomers in the proper order, from the earliest in time to the latest?
a. Kepler, Copernicus, Tycho, Ptolemy
b. Galileo, Copernicus, Tycho,
c. Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler,
d. Galileo, Kepler,
23. You are floating in outer space. You throw a ball rapidly in one direction. You
will
a. move slowly in the same direction that the ball is thrown
b. stay at rest since no force is acting on you
c. move slowly in the direction opposite that of the ball
d. be wondering how long your oxygen will last
24. Astronauts on the space station are weightless because
a. they have escaped the pull of the earth’s gravity
b. their velocity is not changing
c. they have zero mass
d. they and the space station are both in free fall around the earth
25. High tides will be especially high at new moon and full moon because
a. the sun, earth, and moon are approximately lined up at those phases
b. the sun’s gravity pulls at right angles to the moon’s gravity at those phases
c. the mass of the earth is smaller at those phases
d. the moon is closest to the earth at those phases
Answers: 16)d 17)c 18)b 19)e 20)b 21)a 22)c 23)c 24)d 25)a