The correct answers are written in bold, italic and underlined. The ...

Comins DEU 3e Ch 02 Quiz 1 completedThe correct answers are written in bold, italic and underlined.The most important questions to study for the exam are highlighted.1. One of the aims of the scientific method is• to establish a faith system about the behavior of things in nature, in which all people can believe, on the basis ofcommon sense.• to reduce the number of theories that explain the behavior of nature.• to devise the most complex theory that will explain all of the observations of a particular phenomenon, irrespectiveof the number of assumptions needed to support the theory.2. In using the scientific method to investigate a particularphenomenon, you would normally follow the careful observation of thisphenomenon and analysis of the results by• the development of a new theory to explain the data without comparison with pre-existing theories.• a comparison of the results with existing theories; and if no previous theory was found to fit the observations,you would develop a new theory.• a statement that, because these results disagree with previous measurements of this phenomenon, your results mustbe in error.3. The concept of the universe adopted by most ancient Greekphilosophers was• Earth-centered, with the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars orbiting around a stationary Earth.• stationary, with the fixed Sun, Moon, planets, and stars appearing to move when viewed from a rotating Earth.• Sun-centered, with the Earth, Moon, planets, and stars orbiting around a stationary Sun.4. When we watch a planet such as Mars or Jupiter over a period ofseveral nights, we find that it is moving slowly past the backgroundstars. What is the normal direction of this motion?• Toward the west• Variable, with no preferred direction we would call "normal"• Toward the east5. Which of the following planets was known in Greek times?• Mercury• Uranus• Neptune

• Midnight• Noon13. The true orbital period of a planet around the Sun, compared to thebackground stars, is called its• synodic period.• sidereal period.• rotation period.14. A friend from New York City tells you that she saw Venus high in thesky at midnight on Christmas Day in 2004. Why do you know that she iswrong?• Venus is always too faint to be seen in the winter from the northern hemisphere.• The orbit of Venus is close to the ecliptic, and therefore it cannot be seen from the latitude of New York City.• Venus is an inferior planet and always sets before midnight because it remains close to the Sun in our sky.15. Suppose that on some particular day the straight line from the Sunto the Earth continues on to pass through Mars and ultimately throughsome particular star in the sky. (Drawing a diagram might be helpful.)One synodic period later, Mars will again be lined up• with the star and the Sun, but not with the Earth.• with the Earth and the star, but not with the Sun.• with the Earth and the Sun, but not with the star.16. The synodic period for a planet is different from its siderealperiod because• the Earth (and hence the observer) moves.• the planet's speed varies as it moves around the Sun in its orbit.• the planet's orbital distance from the Sun is different from that of the Earth from the Sun.17. Tycho Brahe's major contribution to the development of modernastronomy was• the detailed and precise measurement of the positions of stars and planets in our sky.• a detailed and successful description of how a star can explode.• the first telescope observations of the variation of apparent shapes and sizes of planets, particularly Venus andMercury.18. The shape of the Earth's orbit around the Sun is• elliptical, with the Sun at the center of the ellipse.

• circular, since all orbits of planets have to be circular in order to maintain a constant distance from the Sun.• elliptical, with the Sun at a point known as a focus of the ellipse.19. Which of the following methods could one use to demonstrate that theEarth's distance from the Sun varies as a consequence of its ellipticalorbit?• Measure the variation in the length of the shadow of a vertical pole produced by the Sun at midday throughout theyear• Measure the time between successive passages of a given star through your zenith• Measure the angular size of the Sun during the year20. An object orbiting the Sun with an orbital eccentricity of 0.1 hasan orbit whose shape is• circular, but with the Sun off-center in the circle.• a long, narrow ellipse.• slightly elliptical, but almost circular.