Version A
Write your name at the top of this quiz as well as on your answer sheet, and hand them both in at the end of the quiz. WRITE YOUR VERSION ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET. Feel free to write or draw on the quiz.
PICK THE BEST ANSWER TO EACH PROBLEM.
1. Which of the following is NOT true about helium?
a) It is the second most common element in the human body.
b) It is the second most common element in the Universe.
c) It was produced by primordial nucleosynthesis in the early Universe.
d) It always contains just two protons.
e) It does not generally make molecular bonds, but mostly
stays in its atomic state.
a) It is the second most common element in the human body.
2. How far away is the Sun from the Earth?
a) 2 million light years.
b) 4.3 light years.
c) 1 light year.
d) 4.3 Astronomical Units.
e) 1 Astronomical Unit.
e) 1 Astronomical Unit.
3. The equation
N = R*fpneflfifcL is called
the:
a) the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
b) the Law of Energy Conservation.
c) the Drake Equation.
d) the Scientific Equation.
e) the Alpha relation.
c) the Drake Equation.
4. How does the mass of an helium-4 atom compare to
that of deuterium?
a) approximately the same.
b) approximately twice as large.
c) approximately four times as large.
d) approximately eight times as large.
e) approximately half as big.
b) approximately twice as large.
5. Which of the following is about 2 million light years
away from the Earth?
a) the Moon.
b) the Sun.
c) alpha Centauri.
d) the Andromeda galaxy.
e) the most distant known galaxy.
d) the Andromeda galaxy.
6. In the present Universe, the light that makes up
the cosmic background radiation is mostly:
a) radio waves.
b) visible light.
c) X-rays.
d) ultraviolet light.
e) gamma rays.
a) radio waves.
7. Which type of light has
wavelengths between that
of gamma rays and ultraviolet light?
a) radio waves.
b) visible light.
c) infrared light.
d) X-rays.
e) microwaves.
d) X-rays.
8.
An isotope is:
a) a positively-charged electron.
b) an atom which has lost an electron, so it is positively-charged.
c) an atom with the same number of protons as another atom, but
with a different number of neutrons.
d) an extremely high energy photon.
e) a short-wavelength radio photon.
c) an atom with the same number of protons as another atom, but
with a different number of neutrons.
9. To fill its outer shell of electrons, nitrogen shares how
many pairs of electrons with other atoms?
a) none.
b) one.
c) two.
d) three.
e) four.
d) three.
10. Only two electrons can fit in the innermost shell
of electrons in an atom. How many can fit in the second electron shell?
a) two.
b) four.
c) six.
d) eight.
e) eighteen.
d) eight.
11.
The oxygen in our bodies was created:
a) in the first 0.000001 second after the Big Bang.
b) in the first minute after the Big Bang.
c) by pair production in the early Universe.
d) by primordial nucleosynthesis in the early Universe.
e) by nuclear reactions inside of stars.
e) by nuclear reactions inside of stars.
12. The Milky Way galaxy:
a) contains about 400 billion stars.
b) is an elliptical galaxy.
c) is about 2 million light years away from the Sun.
d) was formed in the first thirty minutes after the Big Bang.
e) is also sometimes called the Andromeda galaxy.
a) contains about 400 billion stars.
13. Entropy is:
a) A measure of the energy of a system.
b) A measure of the disorder in a system.
c) A measure of the rate of pair production in a system.
d) A measure of the amount of ionization in a system.
e) A measure of the number of isotopes in a system.
b) A measure of the disorder in a system.
14. Carbon atoms always contain:
a) six electrons.
b) six protons.
c) six neutrons.
d) twelve protons.
e) twelve neutrons.
b) six protons.
15. What is the scientific name for the process
in which a particle of matter and its matching anti-matter particle
are created from light?
a) ionization.
b) isotopic production.
c) pair production.
d) kinetic production.
e) atomic formation.
c) pair production.
16. Which of the following has more scientific evidence behind it?
a) a theory.
b) a hypothesis.
c) a guess.
d) a theory and a hypothesis are equivalent terms; they have about
the same amount of scientific evidence behind them.
e) a theory, a hypothesis, and a guess are all equivalent terms;
none of them have any scientific evidence at all behind it.
a) a theory.
17. The number 3.24 X 102 can be written as:
a) 32400
b) 324
c) 32.4
d) 0.324
e) 0.0324
b) 324
18. Life is sometimes defined as `the property of a system
characterized by complex cycles which maintains or gradually decreases
the entropy of the system by exchanging matter and energy with
its surroundings'. Does this definition violate the Second Law
of Thermodynamics?
a) Yes, the second law states that the entropy of all systems
always increases, in violation of this definition of life.
b) Yes, the second law states that entropy is always constant,
in all systems; it never changes.
c) No, the second law only applies to atoms, not to complex systems
made up of molecules.
d) No, the second law states that the entropy of all systems
decreases or remains the same, as in the system described.
e) No, the second law only applies to closed systems; the system
described in this definition of life is open.
e) No, the second law only applies to closed systems; the system
described in this definition of life is open.
19. A helium nucleus is sometimes called a/an:
a) positron.
b) neutron.
c) beta particle.
d) alpha particle.
e) gamma particle.
d) alpha particle.
20. A 15N atom contains:
a) 15 protons, 15 neutrons.
b) 7 protons, 8 neutrons.
c) 8 protons, 7 neutrons.
d) 15 protons, 0 neutrons.
e) 14 protons, 1 neutron.
b) 7 protons, 8 neutrons.