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the physical universe
Questions and Answers of
The Physical Universe
Use structural formulas to show the reaction between methyl alcohol and acetic acid to produce methyl acetate.
How many “letters” are there in the genetic code by which DNA governs protein synthesis? How many letters are used to specify a particular amino acid?
Suppose you are climbing in an airplane that has no altimeter. How could you tell when you are approaching the top of the troposphere?
What would happen if ozone were to disappear from the upper atmosphere? From the lower atmosphere?
What does it mean to say that a certain volume of air has a relative humidity of 50 percent? Of 100 percent?
Why does the air in a heated room tend to be dry?
a. On such a night the earth’s surface cools by radiation. The air in contact with the surface also cools and may become saturated with water vapor, which then condenses into droplets of
What do high-altitude clouds consist of? Low-altitude clouds?
(a) The three basic cloud types are cirrus, stratus, and cumulus. What is characteristic of each type?(b) What is the origin of the streaks of cirrus cloud produced by high-altitude aircraft?
(a) On a clear day, solar radiation is most intense at noon. Why? (b) The highest air temperatures occur a few hours later. Why?
Compare the ways in which the troposphere and the stratosphere are heated.
Why does the average air temperature decrease going from the equator to the poles?
Account for the abrupt changes in temperature between day and night in desert regions.
The prevailing westerly winds of the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere are generally weaker than those of the southern hemisphere. Can you think of why this is so?
(a) What is the name of weather systems centered about regions of low pressure?(b) In what direction do winds in the northern hemisphere spiral around such a region?(c) In the southern hemisphere?
Why are clouds and rain more likely to be associated with a cyclone than with an anticyclone?
What is the approximate sequence of wind directions when the center of a cyclone passes north of an observer in the northern hemisphere?
What is the difference between the rainfall that accompanies the passage of a warm front and that which accompanies the passage of a cold front?
Why can a hurricane be regarded as a heat engine?
A feature of most autumns in the northeastern United States is a period of mild, sunny weather called Indian summer, which occurs when an anticyclone happens to stall for a few days off the East
Water vapor is an important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, yet much more attention is paid in this respect to carbon dioxide. Why do you think this is so?
From time to time a gigantic volcanic explosion sends a large amount of dust into the atmosphere, where it may remain for some years. How many consequences of such an event can you think of?
How does the average depth of the ocean basins below sea level compare with the average height of the continents above sea level?
Why is it believed that seawater has always been salty?
The giant gyres of the oceans involve clockwise flows in the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise flows in the southern. Why?
England and Labrador are at about the same latitude on either side of the North Atlantic Ocean, but England is considerably warmer than Labrador on the average. Why?
Why are streams and rivers so effective as agents of erosion on the earth’s surface?
Why is it hard to detect the planetary systems of other stars?
Would you characterize the most likely next phase of the earth’s history as fire or ice?
The least likely reason why planetary systems have not been directly observed around stars other than the sun is thata. Planets are smallb. Planets shine by reflected lightc. Planetary systems are
Planets are always small compared with stars because otherwisea. The rotation of the planets would cause them to disintegrateb. The great mass of the planets would cause them to be pulled into their
What heated all the planets as they were formed? Was there any other influence that helped heat the inner, rocky planets?
It is likely that the planets, satellites, and other members of the solar system were formeda. Together with the sunb. Later than the sun from material it ejectedc. Later than the sun from material
The age of the earth is abouta. 6000 yearsb. 13.8 million yearsc. 4.6 billion yearsd. 13.8 billion years
Did the sun begin as a small body that grew to its present size, or as a large one that subsequently shrank?
The age of the universe is abouta. 6000 yearsb. 13.8 million yearsc. 4.6 billion yearsd. 13.8 billion years
It is least likely that the universe willa. Continue to expand indefinitelyb. Expand at an ever-increasing rate until it is torn apartc. Stop expanding and maintain a constant sized. Collapse in a
Distinguish between a closed and an open universe. How does the density of matter in the universe bear on the question of whether the universe is closed or open? What does present evidence suggest
Dark energya. Is the energy equivalent of dark matterb. Is the energy of black holesc. Is the energy of neutrinosd. Has an unknown nature as yet
Present evidence suggests that the major ingredient of the universe is in the form ofa. Dark matterb. Dark energy c. Cosmic raysd. Black holes
Is the cosmic microwave background radiation uniform in space? If not, what is the significance of the variations?
Astronauts need not worry abouta. Gamma-ray burstsb. Cosmic raysc. Cosmic microwave background radiationd. Collisions with space junk
Radiation from the early history of the universe was stretched by the expansion of the universe until today it is in the form ofa. X-raysb. Ultraviolet waves c. Infrared wavesd. Radio waves
What are the origins of the helium found in the universe?
Today the universe apparently containsa. Only matterb. Only antimatterc. Equal amounts of matter and antimatterd. Slightly more matter than antimatter
Soon after it came into being, the universe containeda. Only matterb. Only antimatterc. Equal amounts of matter and antimatterd. Slightly more matter than antimatter
What is the observational evidence in favor of the big bang?
The elements heavier than hydrogen and helium of which the planets are composed probably came from thea. Sunb. Debris of supernova explosions that occurred before the solar system came into beingc.
The matter in the early universe that eventually condensed into galaxies and then into stars consisted ofa. Only hydrogenb. Hydrogen and helium in an approximately 3:1 ratioc. Hydrogen and helium in
Why are quasars thought to be relatively small in size?
The expansion of the universe apparentlya. Has always occurred at the same rateb. Is currently slowing downc. Is currently speeding upd. Has come to a stop
The term “big bang” refers toa. The origin of the universeb. The ultimate fate of the universec. A supernova explosiond. The formation of a quasar
Why is the universe believed to be expanding?
Quasars do nota. Emit radio wavesb. Exhibit red shifts in their spectrac. Vary in their output of radiationd. Occur in the solar system
Current ideas suggest that what is responsible for the observed properties of a quasar is a massivea. Neutron starb. Black hole c. Spiral galaxyd. Star cluster
What traps cosmic rays in our galaxy?
Supernova explosions have no connection witha. The formation of heavy elementsb. Cosmic raysc. Pulsarsd. Quasars
The red shift in the spectral lines of light reaching us from other galaxies implies that these galaxiesa. Are moving closer to one anotherb. Are moving farther apart from one anotherc. Are in rapid
What do you think ultimately becomes of the protons and neutrons knocked out of atmospheric atoms by cosmic rays?
The origin of the most energetic cosmic rays isa. Nuclear reactions in the sunb. Solar flaresc. The cosmic microwave background radiationd. Unknown
Primary cosmic rays are composed largely of very fasta. Protonsb. Neutrons c. Electronsd. Gamma rays
In what way have cosmic rays affected the composition of the universe?
Cosmic raysa. Circulate freely through spaceb. Are trapped in our galaxy by electric fieldsc. Are trapped in our galaxy by magnetic fieldsd. Are trapped in our galaxy by gravitational fields
Cosmic rays carry energy to the earth at about the same rate asa. Sunlightb. Moonlight c. Starlightd. Meteoroids
(a) What is the observational evidence in favor of there being a great deal of dark matter in the universe? (b) Where is the dark matter located?
The dark matter that all galaxies apparently containa. Consists of antimatterb. Consists of cosmic raysc. Consists of dead starsd. Is of unknown nature
Individual stars in other galaxiesa. Can be seen with the unaided eyeb. Can be seen only with a telescopec. Cannot be seen even with a telescoped. Are all members of Population II
How are galaxies distributed in the universe?
The stars in a galaxy area. Moving outward from its centerb. Moving inward toward its centerc. Revolving around its centerd. Stationary relative to its center
Spiral galaxiesa. Are readily visible as such to the naked eyeb. May be dark or brightc. Are usually similar to our galaxyd. Originate in supernova explosions
Are most galaxies smaller, larger, or about the same size as our galaxy?
Radio waves from space never originate ina. Extremely hot gasesb. Fast electrons moving through magnetic fieldsc. Moleculesd. Cosmic rays
A radio telescope is basically a (an)a. Device for magnifying radio wavesb. Telescope remotely controlled by radioc. Directional antenna connected to a sensitive radio receiverd. Optical telescope
Why are radio-astronomical studies of the distribution of hydrogen in the universe of greater interest than studies of the distribution of other elements?
Compared with the Population II stars in globular clusters, the Population I stars in the galactic disk area. Richer in hydrogen and heliumb. Richer in the heavier elementsc. Olderd. Closer together
The Population II stars in globular clusters area. Mostly very youngb. Mostly very oldc. Mostly about as old as the sund. Of all ages about equally distributed
List the three ways in which radio waves from space originate.
The globular clusters of our galaxya. Contain around a hundred stars eachb. Contain around a million stars eachc. Contain around a billion stars eachd. Lie only in its central disk
Clouds of luminous gas and dust in our galaxy are calleda. Galactic clustersb. Galactic nebulas c. Quasarsd. Cosmic rays
Where is most of the interstellar gas in our galaxy located? What is its chief constituent?
Evidence of various kinds suggests that at the center of our galaxy is aa. Quasarb. Pulsar c. Neutron stard. Black hole
Each cubic centimeter of space between the stars in our galaxy contains on the average abouta. 1 atom or moleculeb. 1 million atoms or moleculesc. 1 mg of matterd. 1 g of matter
Distinguish between Population I and Population II stars.
Our galaxy is shaped roughly like a fried egg whose diameter is abouta. twice its thicknessb. 10 times its thicknessc. 100 times its thicknessd. 1 million times its thickness
The stars in the disk of our galaxy are mostly distributeda. Uniformlyb. At randomc. In its central nucleusd. In its spiral arms
What are the properties of globular clusters?
The number of stars in our galaxy is roughlya. 2000b. 2 million c. 2 billiond. 200 billion
Our galaxy is approximatelya. 4 light-years acrossb. 15,000 light-years acrossc. 130,000 light-years acrossd. 4 million light-years across
What is the Milky Way?
Relative to the center of our galaxy,a. Its stars are stationaryb. Its stars move entirely at randomc. Its stars revolved. Population I stars are stationary, and Population II stars revolve
The Milky Way isa. A gas cloud in the solar systemb. A gas cloud in the galaxy of which the sun is a memberc. The galaxy of which the sun is a memberd. A nearby galaxy
The stars in space area. Uniformly spread outb. Distributed completely at randomc. Chiefly in the Milky Wayd. Mostly contained within widely separated galaxies
What prevents light from escaping from a black hole?
(a) What is the characteristic behavior of a pulsar? (b) What is believed to be its nature? (c) From what does a pulsar originate?
What is left behind after a supernova explosion?
After a very long time, a white dwarf will cool down and become a black dwarf. What will the corresponding evolutionary path of the star be on the H-R diagram?
In what part of its life cycle is a white dwarf?
Why are there relatively few giant stars in the main sequence?
Sirius, the brightest star in the sky apart from the sun, is a blue-white star of great luminosity. (a) What does this suggest about its temperature? (b) About its average density? (c)
What are the chief characteristics of an average star in the upper left of the H-R diagram? In the lower left? In the upper right? In the middle of the main sequence?
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