Test your basic knowledge |

Subject : science
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. In Ptolemy's geocentric solar system - the large circle on which a planet's epicycle moved around the Earth.






2. The light produced when particles from the sun collide with atmospheric molecules






3. Originially thought to be stars emitting radio radiation but are now concluded to be nuclei of distant galaxies (same as radio galaxies aka emit streams of material)






4. Half of the longest diameter across an ellipse






5. The mix of pure photon energy that emerged at the start of the universe.






6. In what chemical form are jupiters nitrogen - carbon and oxygen?






7. A word meaning 'the same in all directions.'






8. The average distance between the Earth and the Sun (=1.5 x10^8km)






9. The science of measuring light energy by wavelength.






10. Matter that reveals itself only through its gravitational attraction.






11. Any change in the speed or direction of an object's motion






12. The era when the ratio of matter to energy greatly favored matter. (verses radiation dominated universe where it was opaque. Matter is now dominated by gravity not photons)






13. All wavelengths of light emitted by a blackbody.






14. Consists of old red stars in slow orbits that plunge through disk and bulge. about 1% are old - round globular clusters.






15. A method of finding a star's distance from its absolute magnitude and spectral type or color.






16. A fusion process in which a carbon atom transmutes to oxygen and back - creating a helium atom in the process






17. Rich= dense crowded cores of galaxies - poor= few members and a looser organization of galaxies






18. Material that shoots rapidly out into space. Flares cause Auroras






19. When the Moon entirely blocks the Sun.






20. Form honeycomb like patterns surrounding empty or nearly empty voids.






21. A collection of comets in the plane of the solar system - located beyond the orbit of Pluto






22. The larger bodies that formed early in teh solar nebula that were chemically differentiated






23. A bright area of higher temperature that often proceeds the formation of sunspots.






24. 10 nm 10^2 nm






25. The location around an atom where an electron resides.






26. A huge sphere of tenuous gas surrounding the nucleus of a comet






27. In Ptolemy's geocentric solar system - the small circle on which a planet moved.






28. The normal eastward movement of a planet against the background of hte distant stars.






29. A spectrum of light with energy at only a few wavelengths.






30. The study of the universe as a whole.






31. A large and bright but cool star.






32. Radiation (possibly left over from the big bang) that fills the universe. Perfect black body spectrum and tells us a bit aout how galaxies are formed.






33. Massive compact halo objects (MACHO) - weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPY's)






34. The first rock-sized bodies that formed in the solar nebula from dust grains






35. The opaque universe that existed for 300000 years after the Big Bang. (photons outnumbered nuclei by 1 billion to one - so less light)






36. A particle of light






37. The trapping of heat by carbon dioxide or other gases in the Earth's atmosphere.






38. Ganymede and Titan






39. A quantity measuring the stability of the Earth's atmosphere






40. A method of finding a star's distance from its absolute magnitude and spectral type or color.






41. A repeated - periodic push or pull capable of summing into a larger push or pull






42. When the Sun is farthest south of the celestial equator (About December 22)






43. The amount of density needed to stop the universe from expanding and to begin the big crunch represented by Pc






44. Venus






45. The seasonal shifting of a nearby star's position relative to more distant objects.






46. A term referring to Earth-like planets






47. The 11 or 22 period on the sun durin which sunspots increase - decrease - change polarity - increase and decrease again.






48. A small spherical dark nebula






49. The assumption that the universe is isotropic (same in all directions) and homogeneous (Same everywhere throughout)






50. Latin for 'cloud'. A word used to describe the collections of gas and dust in the Milky Way and other galaxies