Astronomy college course/Sandbox

Students in this course may make contributions here. Submit under the alias that was assigned to you.

This sandbox is set up for IP edits, which should be from a campus computer if you don't want to publicize your IP address. Student who contribute under usernames should understand that these pages are routinely purged in such a way that only the history page documents the contributions.

Future edits by the 2015 Astronomy course should be made here: Astronomy college course/Presidential sandbox

John Adams   (1797-1801)
{inspired: What is the lifespan of a star like our Sun (before fusion ceases)?} - 5 billion years + 10 billion years - 15 billion years - 20 billion years

{copied: A star that first begins its lifespan is known as a} + protostar - red giant - red dwarf - blue giant - yellow dwarf

{copied: The constellation Aries is named after the Roman god of war} - true + false

Andrew Jackson   (1829-1837)
{Earth's inner core is believed to be ______ the surface of the Sun} - not nearly as hot as + approximately as hot as - much hotter than

Planetary science
{A shield volcano consists of} - argon - sediment - iron + magma {The largest volcano on Mars has the name} + Olympus - Mauna Lou - Europa - answer - answer

Stellar evolution
{Stellar evolution is the process by which the ratio of Type-1 and Type-2 stars has changed since the big bang.} - true + false

{Stellar evolution is the process by which a star changes during its lifetime.} + true - false

{Most stars more massive than the Sun end their lives as Supernovae. copied verbatum} - true + false

{A black hole is defined as any object that absorbs all the light that strikes it} - true + false

Planetary Science
all questions are copied verbatum or only slightly edited. The only exception is the Sierpinski triangle and other geometric doubling questions, which were inspired by the Jupiter to Earth mass and diameter ratios.

{What two types of volcanoes have been found on Mars?} + shield volcanoes and volcanic vents - shield volcanoes and composite cone volcanoes - vocanic vents and mauna loa {The solar system's largest volcano is on} + Mars - Earth - Jupiter - Venus - Europa {The solar system's largest shield volcanoes are large because of} - lack of oxygen - low gravity - large gravity - rapid plate tectonic motion + absence of plate tectonic motion {How many times larger in volume is the largest shield volcano in the solar system compared with the largest shield volcano on Earth?} + 100 times larger - 1 times larger (because it's on Earth!) - 30 times larger - 3 times larger - 300 times larger {Jupiter is _____ times smaller in mass than the Sun} - 10 -  100 +  1,000 -  10,000 -  100,000 {Jupiter is _____ times smaller in diameter than the Sun} + 10 -  100 -  1,000 -  10,000 -  100,000 {When you double the length of a square you get ___ times as much area.} - 2 +  4 -  8 -  16 {When you double the length of a cube you get ___ times as much volume.} - 2 -  4 +  8 -  16 { When you double the length of a Sierpinski triangle, you get ____ times as much Sierpinski triangle } - 2 +  3 -  4 -  5 -  6 {When you double the length of a piece of string, you get ____ times as much string.} + 2 -  3 -  4 -  5 -  6

Stellar evolution
{Isolated dwarf stars are stable, remaining in this form indefinitely.} + true - false

{Isolated dwarf stars are unstable and end up as neutron stars} - true + false

{What is the outward force that sustains a white dwarf's diameter} - pressure from photons - pressure from X-rays + electron degeneracy -- the same thing that makes metal difficult to compress - neutron degeneracy -- the same thing that makes atomic nuclei difficult to compress {The neutron star is formed} - in the core as soon as the star forms + from a core collapse of large star - when a black hole ejects its mass - answer {Where are the black dwarfs (formed when white dwarfs cool to blackness)?} - at the center of galaxies + the universe is too young to have formed them - at the center of the universe - at the outer rims of galaxies - they lie between the galaxies

{Why do white dwarfs take longer to cool?} - the volume is too small - the mass is too small - the mass density is too small - they are located in a part of the universe that doesn't cool + the surface area is too small

{For mid-sized stars, the next step after being in the main sequence is to become a} + red giant - white dwarf - red dwarf - neutron star - protostar

Millard Fillmore   (1850-1853)
Newton's Dark Secrets {copied:Newton predicted that the world would end in} - 2012 + 2060 - 1642 - 2084

{modified slightly: One of Isaac Newton's favorite books as a child was written by John Bate in 1634 and had the title:} + The Mysteries of Nature and Art + The Mysteries of Math and Science + The Mysteries of Math and Astronomy + The Mysteries of Science and Spirtuality

{modified slightly: Invented by Newton, this subject changed the way science has been done to this day:} - algebra - trigonometry + calculus - geometry

Planetary science
{This layer of Earth's atmosphere consists mostly of hydrogen and helium} + exosphere - stratosphere - mesosphere - troposphere - hydrosphere {A rigid layer of Earth consisting of the crust and the top of the mantle is called the} - exosphere + lithosphere - thermosphere - hydrosphere {Earth bulges out at the north and south poles} - true + false {What is not one of the factors typicaly required for a planet or star to possess a magnetic field?} - liquid core - conducting core - hotter at the center + positive ions - rotation

{On Mars, the largest of 4 shield volcanoes on _________ is called _________} + Tharsis Montes ... Olympus Mons - Aphrodite Terra ... Ishtar Terra - Tharsis Montes ... Arsia Mons - Ishtar Terra ... Aphrodite Terra - Arsia Montes... Olympus Mons Ishtar Terra, about the size of Australia, in the north polar region, and Aphrodite Terra, about the size of South America, straddling the equator and extending for alm

Stellar evolution
{Stars are born out of the gravitational collapse of something called a 'giant ______ cloud'} - atomic - nuclear + molecular - hydrogen - heluim {The term 'brown dwarf' refers to a(n)} - old white dwarf - young white dwarf - young star - dying star + failed star

{The primary source of nuclear energy for small main sequence stars is the fusion of helium into carbon} - true + false

{The primary source of nuclear energy for large main sequence stars is the fusion of helium into carbon} - true + false

{The primary source of nuclear energy for large main sequence stars is the fusion of helium into carbon} - true + false