Cypress College ASTR 116 Homework
Astronomy 116, Homework CHAPTER 5 (A) Earth and Its Moon. Due:
Print Last, First Name and date on the small Scantron in INK. Print
your last name in BIG BLOCK letters on the back of the Scantron.
Use a No. 2 pencil to fill out Scantron. Read the chapter.
Look at the videos and simulations in the CD-ROM. Answer all True/False and
Fill in the Blank questions. Then answer the following questions
and turn in your Scantron only. Choose the best answer.
1. Earth's atmosphere is primarily composed of:
- a) 78% Nitrogen and 21% Oxygen.
- b) 78% Oxygen and 21% Nitrogen.
- c) 78% Oxygen and 21% water.
- d) 75% Hydrogen and 25% Oxygen.
2. One of the following factors, along with temperature, determines whether
a body will retain an atmosphere of a given composition.
- a) size
- b) distance from the sun
- c) escape speed
- d) rate of rotation
- e) magnetic field
3. The presence of a magnetic field is a good indication that:
- a) A large amount of magnetic material, probably brought to Earth
during a meteorite fall, is buried somewhere near the North Pole.
- b) A quantity of liquid metal is swirling around in the Earth's
core.
- c) The Earth is composed mostly of iron.
- d) The Earth is completely solid.
4. When an Earth scientist says that the Earth is "differentiated," she
means that:
- a) The ground beneath our feet gets hotter and denser as you go
inward.
- b) Earth is different from any other planet in the solar system.
- c) The radioactive heating of the Earth takes place at a slower
rate today than it did billions of years ago.
- d) Earth's magnetic field undergoes reversals.
5. Name two places on Earth where convection is operating on a large scale,
creating natural phenomena that are important features for life on Earth.
- a) In the atmosphere and the mantle.
- b) In the two Van Allen belts.
- c) In the crust and the exosphere.
- d) all of the above
- e) none of the above
6. Which of the following regions of the Earth appears to be unique to
it (it is not found on any other body in the solar system)?
- a) atmosphere
- b) hydrosphere
- c) mantle
- d) core e) magnetosphere
7. The average rate of erosion on the Moon is far less than that on the
Earth because:
- a) The crust of the Moon is denser than the Earth's crust.
- b) The Moon lacks wind and running water.
- c) The Moon is younger than the Earth.
- d) There are no tidal forces acting on the Moon.
8. What do moonquakes reveal about the lunar interior?
- a) They show the intensity of the Moon's magnetic field.
- b) They show that the Moon might have a small, partially molten
core.
- c) They show that the Moon is a geologically very active world.
- d) None of the above
9. What theory of the Moon's origin is favored by most astronomers today?
- a) The Moon formed as a separate object near Earth and at about
the same time.
- b) The Moon formed far from Earth and was captured by its gravity.
- c) The Moon originated as material torn from the young, mostly
molten Earth by centrifugal or tidal forces.
- d) The Moon originated as material torn from Earth by the collision
of a large Mars-sized body.
10. What is the age of the lunar maria compared to the 4 billion year age
of the highlands?
- a) 5.5 billion years
- b) 4 to 4.6 billion years
- c) 3.2 to 3.9 billion years
- d) 1.1 to 1.6 billion years
- e) 500 to 600 million years