Exam 2 Textbook Questions

Front 1

Sea salts from breaking waves, fine soil blown into the air, smoke and soot from wildfires, pollen and microorganisms lifted by the wind, and ash from volcanic eruptions are all examples of ________.

Back 1

aerosols

Front 2

Water vapor levels in Earth's atmosphere ________.

Back 2

all of the above

Front 3

3) Dust in the atmosphere is responsible for which of the following?

Back 3

all of the above

Front 4

The tops of tall mountains are much colder than surrounding lowlands. This is evidence of ________.

Back 4

C) the environmental lapse rate

Front 5

Climate scientists predict that an effect of human–caused climate change is ________.

Back 5

stronger tropical storms

Front 6

________ is an indication of how near the air is to saturation rather than the actual quantity of water vapor in the air.

Back 6

Relative humidity

Front 7

How can condensation be triggered to form clouds or fog?

Back 7

Add sufficient water vapor to the air so that it reaches saturation.

Front 8

Adiabatic temperature changes occur ________.

Back 8

when heat is neither added nor subtracted

Front 9

The most important process of cloud formation in the atmosphere is ________.

Back 9

cooling by compression of air

Front 10

Rising air is ________ air.

Back 10

unstable

Front 11

Lines on a weather map connecting places of equal air pressure are called ________.

Back 11

isobars

Front 12

Which of the following does not contribute to controlling the motion of the wind?

Back 12

ozone layer (and hole)

Front 13

________ are high–elevation "rivers" of air that travel between 120 and 240 kilometers (75 and 150 miles) per hour in a west–to–east direction.

Back 13

Jet streams

Front 14

The wind that mostly closely resembles a chinook is ________.

Back 14

the Santa Ana winds

Front 15

Which of these factors influence the magnitude of the Coriolis force?

Back 15

both wind speed and latitude

Front 16

A cyclone is ________.

Back 16

All of the above

Front 17

3) Should people be more concerned about tornado warnings or tornado watches?

Back 17

tornado warnings

Front 18

Hurricanes are characterized by ________.

Back 18

intense convective (thunderstorm) activity and strong cyclonic circulation

Front 19

When a hurricane enters the coastal zone, the most devastating damage usually results from ________.

Back 19

A) storm surge

Front 20

Generally, hurricanes are ________.

Back 20

all of the above

Front 21

The first modern astronomer to propose a Sun–centered universe was ________.

Back 21

Nicholas Copernicus

Front 22

This scientist determined the nature of the forces that kept the planets in their orbits.

Back 22

Sir Issac Newton

Front 23

This scientist was the first to use the telescope in astronomy

Back 23

Galileo

Front 24

The three laws of planetary motion were discovered by ________.

Back 24

Johannes Kepler

Front 25

Stellar parallax should show if Earth shifts position over time.

Back 25

Tycho Brahe

Front 26

Every body in the universe attracts every other body with a force that is directly proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them: the first formulation of the law of universal gravitation

Back 26

Sir Isaac Newton

Front 27

The Sun is at the center of the solar system, and Earth is just another planet.

Back 27

Nicolaus Copernicus

Front 28

The orbits of the planets are elliptical, and the speed of motion changes when the planets are closer to the Sun (faster) or further away (slower).

Back 28

Johannes Kepler

Front 29

Jupiter has at least four satellites.

Back 29

Galileo

Front 30

The Sun has sunspots; dark regions caused by slightly lower temperatures.

Back 30

Galileo

Front 31

In the Ptolemaic (Greek) model of the universe, ________.

Back 31

Earth was at the center of the universe

Front 32

Most of the time, the planets appear to move eastward. However, the occasional apparent westward "drift" of the planets compared to the background stars is called ________.

Back 32

retrograde motion

Front 33

If gravity were somehow eliminated, Earth would ________.

Back 33

move in a straight line out into space

Front 34

Which of the following shows the correct order of formation according to the nebular theory?

Back 34

nebula, planetesimals, protoplanets, planets

Front 35

How many astronomical units of distance lie between Earth and the Sun?

Back 35

1.0

Front 36

Vast, circular to elliptical dark–colored smooth areas of the Moon are known as ________.

Back 36

lunar maria

Front 37

Most of the Moon's craters were produced by ________.

Back 37

the impact of meteoroids

Front 38

Which planet has roving NASA robots on its surface?

Back 38

Mars

Front 39

Which of the following is NOT a dwarf planet

Back 39

Europa

Front 40

________ are small, extraterrestrial particles that glow brightly and burn up as they travel through Earth's atmosphere.

Back 40

Meteoroids

Front 41

Cosmology is the study of ________.

Back 41

the universe

Front 42

A light–year is ________.

Back 42

the distance light travels in one (Earth) year

Front 43

According to the big bang theory, the first two elements to form in the universe were ________.

Back 43

hydrogen and helium

Front 44

Nebulae are strands or clumps of ________.

Back 44

interstellar matter

Front 45

________ is the measure of a star's brightness.

Back 45

Absolute Magnitude

Front 46

Which of the objects listed below has the largest size?

Back 46

galaxies

Front 47

A star having the same mass of Earth's Sun is likely to first evolve into a ________ before becoming a ________.

Back 47

Red Giant; white dwarf

Front 48

Which color stars have the highest surface temperature?

Back 48

Blue

Front 49

Which color stars have the coolest surface temperature?

Back 49

Red

Front 50

________ are objects from which light cannot escape because of the immense gravitational pull at its surface. They are produced during supernova events.

Back 50

black holes

Front 51

Rapidly rotating neutron stars ________.

Back 51

produce radio waves at their magnetic poles, causing them to be perceived (from Earth's perspective) as pulsars

Front 52

which is closest to the position of the Earth's Sun

Back 52

C

Front 53

Which is closest to the position of the supergiant Betalgeuse

Back 53

B

Front 54

Which of the four letters is closest to the position that Earth's Sun will end up at the end of its stellar life cycle

Back 54

D (smallest white dwarfs)

Front 55

The point in stellar evolution when a star has used up all its fuel and is radiating away it's remaining thermal energy is ______ stage

Back 55

White dwarf.