PHYS 284 1-6 Midterm Exam Questions and Answers
2024/2025 with complete solutions;Concordia University
1) What is the meaning of the word cosmos?
A) the origin of Earth and life upon it
B) the light from a distant astronomical object
C) the Milky Way
D) the sum total of all matter and energy, that is,
everything within and between all galaxies
E) the dark sky - ANSWER-Answer: D
2) Which of the following has your "address" in the correct
order?
A) you, Earth, solar system, Local Group, Local
Supercluster, Milky Way
B) you, Earth, solar system, Milky Way, Local
Supercluster, Local Group
C) you, Earth, solar system, Local Group, Milky Way,
Local Supercluster
D) you, Earth, Local Group, Local Supercluster, solar
system, Milky Way
E) you, Earth, solar system, Milky Way, Local Group,
Local Supercluster - ANSWER-Answer: E
3) About where is our solar system located within the Milky
Way Galaxy?
,A) at the center of the galaxy
B) about 10 percent of the way from the center of the
galaxy to the outskirts of the galactic disk
C) about two-thirds of the way from the center of the
galaxy to the outskirts of the galactic disk
D) near the far outskirts of the galactic disk
E) in the halo of the galaxy above the galactic disk -
ANSWER-Answer: C
4) Roughly how many stars are in the Milky Way Galaxy?
A) 1 billion
B) 100 billion
C) 10 billion
D) 100 million
E) 100 trillion - ANSWER-Answer: B
5) Modern telescopes are capable of seeing bright
galaxies up to about
A) 1 million light-years away.
B) 10 million light-years away.
C) 1 billion light-years away.
D) 10 billion light-years away.
E) 1 trillion light-years away. - ANSWER-Answer: D
,6) Suppose we imagine the Sun to be about the size of a
grapefruit. How big an area would the orbits of the eight
planets of the solar system cover?
A) the size of a typical dorm room
B) the size of a typical campus building
C) the size of a typical campus
D) the size of a small city
E) the size of a western state (e.g., Colorado) - ANSWER-
Answer: C
7) What do we mean when we say that the universe is
expanding?
A) Average distances are increasing between star
systems within galaxies.
B) Everything in the universe is gradually growing in size.
C) Average distances are increasing between galaxies.
D) The statement is not meant to be literal rather, it means
that our knowledge of the universe is growing.
E) Individual galaxies are gradually growing in size. -
ANSWER-Answer: C
8) The age of the universe is
A) between 10 million and 16 million years.
B) between 100 million and 160 million years.
C) between 1 billion and 1.6 billion years.
D) between 10 billion and 16 billion years.
E) between 100 billion and 160 billion years. - ANSWER-
Answer: D
9) How are galaxies important to our existence?
, A) Without galaxies, there could not have been a Big
Bang.
B) Without galaxies, the universe could not be expanding.
C) Galaxies prevent planets from leaving their orbits
around stars e.g., our galaxy prevents Earth from leaving
its orbit of the Sun.
D) Galaxies recycle heavy elements produced in stars into
future generations of stars.
E) Galaxies provide the gravity that prevents us from
falling off Earth. - ANSWER-Answer: D
10) Earth is made mostly of metals and rocks. Where did
this material come from?
A) It was produced in the Big Bang.
B) It was created by chemical reactions in interstellar
space.
C) It was produced by nuclear fusion in stars.
D) It was made by our Sun.
E) It was made by nuclear fission of uranium and other
radioactive materials. - ANSWER-Answer: C
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