Course Introduction
Cosmology Study Guide Questions
Cosmology is the scientific study of the universes origin, structure, evolution, and eventual fate. This course covers fundamental topics such as the Big Bang theory, cosmic inflation, dark matter and dark energy, the large-scale structure of the cosmos, and the observational evidence shaping our current understanding of the universe. Students will explore key physical principles, cosmological models, and the techniques used by astronomers and physicists to investigate the cosmos, gaining insight into the overarching questions about the nature and history of the universe.
Recommended Textbook
Life in the Universe 4th Edition by Jeffrey O. Bennett
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13 Chapters
1172 Verified Questions
1172 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/1023
Page 2
Chapter 1: A Universe of Life
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28 Verified Questions
28 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20263
Sample Questions
Q1) The study of life in the universe is best described by the term
A) astrochemistry
B) bioastronomy
C) astrobiology
D) exobiology
Answer: C
Q2) Humanity has been thinking about the possibility of extraterrestrial life
A) since the first reports of unidentified flying objects in the 1940's B) since reports of canals on Mars were first made in the 1870's C) throughout human history since the time of the ancient Greeks
Answer: C
Q3) Astrobiology as a field of scientific research, includes contributions from A) only astronomers and biologists
B) biologists with an interest in astronomy
C) astronomers with an interest in biology
D) many different scientific disciplines
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: The Science of Life in the Universe
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73 Verified Questions
73 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Scientists always try to
A) be as subjective as possible
B) be as objective as possible
C) disagree with the current paradigm of the time
D) agree with the current paradigm of the time
Answer: B
Q2) A person claims to have been abducted by aliens and subjected to painful medical procedures that left scarring. However, he refuses to allow interested scientists to study his scars. This is an example of
A) hypothesis-driven science
B) discovery science
C) nonscience
D) pseudoscience
Answer: D
Q3) Which Greek school of thought believed that life on Earth was unique?
A) the Aristotelians
B) the Platonists
C) the stoicists
D) the atomists
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: The Universal Context of Life
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123 Verified Questions
123 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following do the atoms ¹ N and ¹ N have in common?
A) total number of neutrons and electrons
B) number of protons
C) total number of protons and neutrons
D) number of neutrons
Answer: B
Q2) NH is an example of
A) a molecule only
B) a compound only
C) both a molecule and a compound
D) a collection of isolated atoms
Answer: C
Q3) Between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter we find
A) the Oort cloud
B) Orion's belt
C) the Kuiper belt
D) the asteroid belt
Answer: D
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Chapter 4: The Habitability of Earth
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149 Verified Questions
149 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A radioactive isotope is
A) an unstable nucleus that gives off radio waves
B) a nucleus that formed from the fusion of two other nuclei
C) a stable nucleus that is formed from the fission of a large unstable nucleus
D) an unstable nucleus that spontaneously breaks apart
Q2) The oldest intact rocks found on Earth date back to approximately
A) 4.57 billion years ago
B) 3.85 billion years ago
C) 4.38 billion years ago
D) 4.02 billion years ago
Q3) The lowest density material from the Earth is expected to be found in the A) inner core
B) mantle
C) outer core
D) crust
Q4) The composition of the early atmosphere of the Earth was dominated by
A) hydrogen (H )
B) nitrogen (N )
C) carbon dioxide (CO )
D) oxygen (O )
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Chapter 5: The Nature of Life on Earth
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120 Verified Questions
120 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Silicon forms its strongest chemical bonds with A) itself
B) carbon
C) oxygen
D) hydrogen
Q2) Any change in the base sequence of an organism's DNA is referred to as a
A) malformation
B) transmutation
C) distortion
D) mutation
Q3) What is the MOST important role that proteins play in living organisms on Earth?
A) basic functioning of living organisms
B) short-term energy storage
C) information storage
D) long-term energy storage and cell structure
Q4) Bacteria are examples of
A) unicellular prokaryotes
B) unicellular eukaryotes
C) multicellular eukaryotes
D) multicellular prokaryotes
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Chapter 6: The Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth
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130 Verified Questions
130 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A sample of an ancient sedimentary rock contains slightly less of the isotope carbon-13 than found in inorganic material. One possible explanation for this is that
A) it was a meteorite that fell from the sky
B) some kind of radioactive decay occurred in it in the past
C) it used to be at the bottom of an ancient ocean
D) some kind of biological activity occurred in it in the past
Q2) Why is the chemical evolution model preferred by scientists over other theories for the origin of life on Earth?
A) it is the theory that best fits the available data
B) because we have been able to create Life in the laboratory
C) because it was written down in ancient scriptures
D) because the other theories have been shown to be incorrect
Q3) The Carboniferous Period began about
A) 475 million years ago
B) 65 million years ago
C) 360 million years ago
D) 542 million years ago
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8
Chapter 7: Searching for Life in Our Solar System
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20269
Sample Questions
Q1) Which one of the following properties is unique to water?
A) it has a high heat capacity
B) it is a good solvent
C) it is a liquid over a wide temperature range
D) it expands on freezing
Q2) Most of the detailed information about the planets in our solar system comes from
A) telescopic observations from Earth
B) robotic spacecraft
C) human visits
D) meteorites
Q3) The strong forces of attraction that exist between water molecules and are responsible for many of its unique properties as a solvent are called
A) dispersion forces
B) ionic bonds
C) hydrogen bonds
D) covalent bonds
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Chapter 8: Mars
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104 Verified Questions
104 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20270
Sample Questions
Q1) The Northern hemisphere of Mars is at
A) a higher than average elevation and is covered with impact craters
B) a higher than average elevation and is relatively smooth
C) an average elevation and is covered with impact craters
D) a lower than average elevation and is relatively smooth
Q2) What evidence from the careful examination of impact craters provides evidence that Mars had surface water long ago?
A) indistinct rims of many large craters due to water erosion
B) lack of small craters which would have been erased by ancient rainfall
C) channels where water once flowed between crater lakes
D) all of these
Q3) The first rover to explore Mars in 1997 was called
A) Opportunity
B) Spirit
C) Sojourner
D) Curiosity
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Chapter 9: Life on Jovian Moons
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80 Verified Questions
80 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20271
Sample Questions
Q1) Compared to life on Europa, if life exists on Ganymede it will probably be
A) less abundant and less evolved
B) more abundant and more evolved
C) less abundant but more evolved
D) more abundant but less evolved
Q2) What source of energy might keep an ocean beneath the surface of Callisto liquid?
A) tidal heating only
B) radioactive decay only
C) tidal heating and radioactive decay
D) heat released from a partially molten core
Q3) Which of the four Galilean moons is least likely to harbor life beneath its surface?
A) Europa
B) Io
C) Callisto
D) Ganymede
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Chapter 10: The Nature and Evolution of Habitability
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65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) When the Earth first formed it had large quantities of water vapor in its atmosphere while today the levels of water vapor are much lower. Where did most of the water vapor go?
A) it condensed into the oceans
B) it escaped into space
C) it froze forming the polar
D) became chemically incorporated into rocks in the crust
Q2) Most of the carbon dioxide on Venus
A) is trapped beneath the surface of the planet in gaseous form
B) has escaped into space
C) is present in its atmosphere
D) is locked up in carbonate rocks in its crust
Q3) As global warming progresses, the
A) landmasses will warm the most
B) equatorial regions will warm the most
C) polar regions will warm the most
D) oceans will warm the most
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12
Chapter 11: Extrasolar Planets: Their Nature and Potential
Habitability
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100 Verified Questions
100 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20273
Sample Questions
Q1) Stars are mostly made of
A) hydrogen and helium
B) pure hydrogen
C) carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen
D) an equal mixture of all elements
Q2) Which of the following stars is the coolest?
A) B7
B) G9
C) K7
D) K4
Q3) Multiple star systems in our galaxy
A) are extremely rare, making up less than 1% of the total B) are very common, making up about 50% of the total C) are fairly common, making up around 30% of the total D) do not exist
Q4) At the top of the Hertzprung-Russell diagram we find
A) red giant stars
B) white dwarfs
C) supergiant stars
D) main sequence stars
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Chapter 12: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
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75 Verified Questions
75 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20274
Sample Questions
Q1) Due to increasing amounts of terrestrial radio noise, in the future SETI telescopes may be placed
A) on the tops of tall mountains
B) in near-Earth orbit
C) on the far side of the Moon
D) in remote desert locations
Q2) The sweep technique used in SETI programs is also known as a
A) targeted search
B) intentional search
C) sky survey
D) random search
Q3) The Inner Galactic Plane Survey conducted with the Allen Telescope Array in northern California is an example of a
A) sky survey
B) targeted search
C) intentional search
D) random sweep
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14
Chapter 13: Interstellar Travel and the Fermi Paradox
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65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20275
Sample Questions
Q1) In the nuclear fusion of four hydrogen nuclei to form a helium nucleus, the resultant helium nucleus
A) is more massive than the four hydrogen nuclei, the missing mass being converted into energy
B) is radioactive, generating energy by ejected electrons from beta decay
C) is less massive than the four hydrogen nuclei, the missing mass being converted into energy
D) has exactly the same mass as the four hydrogen nuclei, the energy being generated by the helium nucleus rearranging itself by emitting a gamma ray
Q2) Which type of spacecraft does not need to carry any fuel?
A) nuclear rockets
B) ion engines
C) solar sails
D) chemical rockets
Q3) Which of the following is not a conventional spacecraft design?
A) a matter-antimatter rocket
B) a chemical rocket
C) a solar sail
D) a nuclear rocket
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Page 15