Bonus Questions for Trivia
1.
Telescope
trivia:
a.
This
type of telescope has a mirror at the closed end and the eyepiece sits near the
opening of the telescope
Answer: Newtonian
b.
This
type of telescope reflects the image through a hole in the primary mirror out
the back of the telescope.
Answer: Cassegrain
c.
This
final type of telescope is the longest of all, because it has no mirrors to
reflect the light.
Answer: Refracting
2.
Designate
a team-member for the following at-the-board trivia:
a.
Draw
a spectrum, you’d see from a hot, thin gas
Answer: Emission Spectrum
b.
Draw
the spectrum you’d see from a hot, dense object, such as a person
Answer: Blackbody
c.
Draw
the spectrum of a planet
Answer: Two blackbody curves, one in the visible
one in the IR. Spectral lines are optional.
3.
Diagram
time! Designate a team-member to come
to the board
a.
Explain
why we don’t see either a lunar or solar eclipse every month.
Answer: The Moon’s orbit is inclined with respect
to the ecliptic
b.
Why
do we get annular solar eclipses?
Answer: Sometimes the Moon is farther from Earth
than the average distance, and at those times, it is smaller than the Sun in
angular size. Thus, it doesn’t cover
the whole Sun’s disk.
4.
Action
bonus! Designate two team members to
act out roles!
a.
Designate
one to be the Sun.
b.
The
other will now be a comet in a highly eccentric orbit. You will get 30 points for orbiting the Sun
in a qualitatively (numbers needn’t be right, just get the right idea) fashion.
5.
Greenhouse bonus!
a.
For
10 points, name the most potent greenhouse gas in our atmosphere
Answer: Water Vapor
b.
For
20 points, explain why CO2, not water, is the big concern among
environmentalists. (Give me 2 reasons)
Answer: We can significantly change the
concentration, it is poised to add a lot more greenhouse effect than water
vapor is and it lasts a long time
6.
Drawing
bonus. Take turns among you teammates
and draw:
a.
The
Sun, Earth and the orbit of the Moon.
Add arrows to indicate direction things are spinning or orbiting. (5
points)
b.
The
Moon, in 3rd quarter phase (10 points)
c.
A
person on Earth watching the Moon set (10 points)
d.
What
time is it for the person on Earth (5 points)
7.
Planetary
heat sources: Identify these sources of internal heat for planets:
a.
This
is the main heat source for Earth today
Answer: Radioactive Decay
b.
This
source of heat/energy comes from the kinetic energy of impactors that formed
the planet.
Answer: Accretion
c.
This
source of heat/energy comes about when dense elements move towards the core of
the planet and less dense elements move nearer the surface.
Answer: Differentiation
8.
Geology
time
a.
Pick
one of the four formation properties.
Tell what geological control factor it effects and how.
b.
What
geological processes does this factor effect, and how?
9.
Your
daughter is an astronaut on the Moon.
She is looking straight up and sees a full Earth.
a.
What
phase of the Moon are you seeing? (5 points)
Answer: New
b.
What
phase will Earth be for her in 1 week? (5 points)
Answer: 3rd quarter
c.
Where
will Earth set in her sky? (10 points)
Answer: It won’t.
d.
Where
on the Moon’s surface is she? (10 points)
Answer: In the middle of the side we see.
10. Why is the sky blue?
a.
Your
mother asks you why the sky is blue.
What do you tell her? (20 points)
Answer: Describe Rayleigh scattering, where blue
light is scattered more than red light.
b.
Tell
her why the sunrise/sunset is red (10 points)
Answer: It’s the red light that makes it all the
way through, while the blue gets scattered out of the line of sight well before
reaching us.
11. Planetary temperatures: I’m
going to name 3 factors which might or might not control planetary
temperatures. Tell me how changing each
of these affects the temperature.
a.
Distance
from the Sun
Answer: Closer planets are hotter
b.
Albedo
Answer: Higher albedo means lower temperature
c.
Size
Answer: It doesn’t.
12. Gravity time.
a.
Which
falls faster in the absence of air resistence: a feather or a hammer? (5
points)
Answer: Neither
b.
Why
do they fall at the same rate, if the force felt by the hammer is larger?(10
points)
Answer: The hammer takes more force to get
moving, as per Newton’s second lab: F=ma
c.
What
is the speed at which things can leave the surface of a planet and never return
called? (5 points)
Answer: Escape velocity/speed
d.
What
does escape velocity have to do with planetary atmospheres? (10 points)
Answer: A higher escape speed means that the
planet can hold on to more and lighter gases
13. Time to think about the
electromagnetic spectrum! Identify the
wavelength region. 5 points each.
a.
This
region can be seen by the human eye
Answer: Visible
b.
These
wavelengths have high energies and penetrate some kinds of “solid” matter, but
not all, making them useful to see inside of things.
Answer: X-rays
c.
These
wavelengths are long and often move as if houses, trees and people are not in
their way at all. They are useful for
communication.
Answer: Radio
d.
These
wavelengths are absorbed in the stratosphere
Answer: Ultraviolet
e.
The
absorption of these wavelengths are responsible for the greenhouse effect and
you emit most of your light in this area.
Answer: Infrared
f.
These
are the shortest wavelengths. They’re
usually only seen from high energy events and nuclear blasts.
Answer: Gamma rays
14. Impact Cratering question:
a.
Which
experiences more impacts (for large objects), Earth or the Moon? (10 points)
Answer: Earth, because it has a larger area to
hit and more gravity to attract impactors
b.
Why
does the Moon’s surface look more cratered?
Answer: Erosion on Earth
15. Think about the formation of the solar system.
a.
What
shape was the original cloud before it collapsed? (5 points)
Answer: Spherical
b.
What
made it spin faster as it collapsed? (10 points)
Answer: Conservation of Angular Momentum
c.
Why
did it flatten out? (10 points)
Answer: Collisions averaged out the motions, into
the common direction, in a disk.
d.
This
is the name of the process in which gases solidify out of the nebula into solid
chunks. (5 points)
Answer: Condensation
16. Time to think about the scientific method. For 30 points, tell me what steps are
required in a scientific investigation.
17. Orbits. Answer these
questions about orbiting the Earth. 15 points each
a.
Orbiting
is constantly falling, but doing this (thing Douglas Adams)
Answer: Missing the ground
b.
How
much weaker is the Earth’s gravity at the space station? Less than a factor of 2 times less, a factor
of 2, a factor of 4 or more than a factor of 4?
Answer: Less than a factor of 2.
18. Given the following formula, answer these questions for 10 points
each.
a.
What
is the temperature of a planet at 1 AU with an albedo of 0?
Answer: 280 K
b.
What
is the temperature of a planet at 1.5 AU with an albedo of 1?
Answer: 0 K
c.
What
is the temperature of a planet at 0.5 AU with an albedo 0.75
Answer: 280 K
19. This bonus is about heat transport. Answer the following questions, for 10 points each:
a.
This
processes transports heat by moving the hot and cold materials around.
Answer: Convection
b.
This
process moves heat by light.
Answer: Radiation
c.
This
process moves heat by contact between hot and cold areas.
Answer: Conduction
20. Drawing bonus!
a.
For
20 points, using a diagram and colored chalk, explain why Uranus and Neptune
appear blue.
Answer: These planets’ methane atmospheres absorb
red light and transmit blue light. The
blue light therefore makes it to the cloud layers and reflect, while the red
never gets back out. So we only see
blue.
b.
For
10 points, do the same by explaining why Mars is red.
Answer: Mars’s surface absorbs blue light and
reflects red light. Unlike Uranus and
Neptune, the surface does both the absorbing and the reflecting.
21. Mars Bonus:
a.
For
10 points, why do we think Mars was once warmer than it is now?
Answer: We see erosional features, like water
gullies, flood channels and ocean shores.
b.
For
10 points, what must have been true about Mars for it to have been warmer?
Answer: There must have been more greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere at one time to make it warmer.
c.
For
10 points, what might have happened to Mars’s atmosphere?
Answer: When geological
activity stopped, after Mars’s interior cooled, volcanic outgassing would also
have stopped. This ended the atmosphere source. Also stopped was the planetary magnetic field, so that the
atmosphere was no longer protected from solar wind bombardment. This could have helped remove some of the
atmosphere.
22. Jovian Planets:
a.
Which
is denser, Jupiter or Saturn?
Answer: Jupiter
b.
Why?
Answer: The radius remains nearly constant with
increasing mass so that Jupiter has 3 times the mass in nearly the same volume.
23. Extrasolar Planets: Answer the following questions about
exoplanets for 10 points apiece.
a.
What
was unexpected about the orbits of the extrasolar planets so far discovered?
Answer: They are giant planets, but quite close
to their stars.
b.
Why
did the standard model of planet formation say they shouldn’t exist?
Answer: Because in order to form, the giant
planets need ices. Ices cannot form at
these close distances to the proto-stars.
c.
So
how do we think they got there?
Answer: We think they formed farther away from
their star, where there were ices, and then moved in.
24. For 10 points apiece, where will the Sun rise on each of the
following days:
a.
The Vernal Equinox
Answer: Due East
b.
The
Summer Solstice
Answer: North of East
c.
The
Atumnal Equinox
Answer: Due East