Cosmology
Test Preparation
Course Introduction
Cosmology is the scientific study of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe. This course covers fundamental topics such as the Big Bang theory, cosmic microwave background radiation, the formation of large scale structures, and the expansion of the universe. Students will explore theoretical models, observational evidence, and the role of dark matter and dark energy in shaping the cosmos. Emphasis is placed on understanding both the historical development and the current frontiers of cosmological research, equipping students with the tools to analyze and interpret the vast universe using concepts from physics and astronomy.
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 ancient view of an Earth-centered geocentric universe suggested that life elsewhere should be
A) common
B) rare
C) this view gives us no clue of the likelihood of life elsewhere
D) at the center of another, parallel universe
Answer: B
Q2) Astronomy has shown us that the Earth
A) occupies a special location in the universe so that life elsewhere is unlikely
B) is the only planet in the universe with any kind of life
C) is the only planet in the universe with advanced life
D) is just one planet orbiting an ordinary star in a vast universe
Answer: D
Q3) The scientific discipline of astrobiology is
A) one of the oldest branches of science
B) a relatively young branch of science
C) a similar age to other fundamental disciplines like physics and chemistry
D) a hypothetical branch of science which has yet to be established
Answer: B
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Page 3
Chapter 2: The Science of Life in the Universe
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73 Verified Questions
73 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20264
Sample Questions
Q1) The first person to suggest that the Earth moved around the Sun was A) Aristarchus
B) Newton
C) Copernicus
D) Galileo
Answer: A
Q2) In science, an unexpected change in a series of measurements is referred to as
A) a deviation
B) bias
C) an error
D) an uncertainty
Answer: A
Q3) Newton's 1 Law of Motion states that
A) action and reaction are equal and opposite
B) force equals mass times acceleration
C) an object moves at a constant velocity unless a force acts
D) the force of gravity decreases with increasing distance
Answer: C
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4
Chapter 3: The Universal Context of Life
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123 Verified Questions
123 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20265
Sample Questions
Q1) Compared to Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
A) are substantially larger
B) contain a much higher proportion of hydrogen compounds
C) have no ring systems
D) are much more massive
Answer: B
Q2) The main chemical building blocks of life, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and iron were formed
A) inside interstellar gas clouds during star formation
B) in the center of the Earth and then ejected onto the surface via volcanism
C) in the nuclear burning cores of stars and then ejected into space when they died
D) in the Big Bang that created the universe
Answer: C
Q3) What kind of energy does a speeding bullet possess?
A) kinetic
B) radiative
C) mechanical
D) potential
Answer: A
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Page 5
Chapter 4: The Habitability of Earth
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149 Verified Questions
149 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20266
Sample Questions
Q1) Severe, long-term cooling periods during the Earth's history are known as
A) snowball Earth
B) ice storms
C) ice ages
D) nuclear winters
Q2) During the Hadean Eon, life
A) could have existed and survived regardless of impacts
B) may have existed but probably could not have survived for long periods due to sterilizing impacts
C) probably survived and existed until the end of the Hadean eon after which it was destroyed
D) could not have existed at all
Q3) Rocks are found on the surface of another planet which appear to have been formed from the solidification of molten lava. Given this, they are most likely to be classified as
A) meteoritic
B) metamorphic
C) sedimentary
D) igneous
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Page 6
Chapter 5: The Nature of Life on Earth
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120 Verified Questions
120 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20267
Sample Questions
Q1) Using the following fragment of the genetic code: Leu = ATG, Gly = CAC, Ala = GTC, which of the following simple proteins does the gene GTCATGCACCACATG correspond to?
A) Ala-Leu-Gly-Gly-Leu
B) Ala-Gly-Leu-Ala-Gly
C) Gly-Gly-Ala-Gly-Leu
D) Leu-Ala-Leu-Gly-Gly
Q2) At a molecular level, evolution proceeds via a process of A) transcription
B) translation
C) replication
D) mutation
Q3) Instead of thymine, RNA uses the nucleotide base
A) guanine
B) uracil
C) adenine
D) cytosine
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Chapter 6: The Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth
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130 Verified Questions
130 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20268
Sample Questions
Q1) The most severe mass extinction during the past 500 million years occurred at the end of which geological period?
A) Devonian
B) Triassic
C) Permian
D) Cretaceous
Q2) Why have studies of the geological record not enabled us to determine how life on Earth originated?
A) the first living organisms would have left absolutely no trace of their existence
B) life was planted on the Earth by an advanced civilization so there is no evidence in the geological record to find
C) the geological record does not extend back to the time that life originated
D) the oldest rocks are too deep inside the Earth for us to retrieve
Q3) All multicellular organisms are
A) Bacteria
B) Prokaryotes
C) Archaea
D) Eukarya
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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) Given that organic molecules need to react in order to produce life, this suggests we should search for worlds in the solar system that have
A) either an atmosphere, or a surface or subsurface liquid medium such as water, or both.
B) organic molecules on their surfaces
C) an atmosphere
D) rocky surfaces
Q2) Mars may have been more Earth-like in the past because
A) its atmosphere was thicker and warmer
B) it was rotating more rapidly
C) the Sun was dimmer, putting out less solar radiation
D) it was not as close to the Sun
Q3) The Curiosity rover is an example of which kind of robotic spacecraft?
A) flybys
B) sample return
C) landers
D) orbiters
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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) Valles Marineris on Mars is
A) about as long and deep as the Grand Canyon on the Earth
B) much longer and deeper than the Grand Canyon on Earth
C) much shorter and shallower than the Grand Canyon on Earth
D) much longer but not as deep as the Grand Canyon on Earth
Q2) Seasonal variations on Mars are due
A) only to its changing distance from the Sun
B) only to its axis tilt
C) to changes in the amounts of energy emitted by the Sun
D) both to its axis tilt and its changing distance from the Sun
Q3) When the Martian axis tilt is large, the Martian poles
A) expand and remain permanently frozen, thinning the atmosphere
B) contract and partially vaporize, thickening the atmosphere
C) extend over the entire surface of the planet
D) completely disappear
Q4) The Earth's axis tilt has changed little over its history due to
A) the stabilizing effects of Jupiter's gravity
B) the stabilizing effects of the Sun's gravity
C) the stabilizing effects of the Moon's gravity
D) its rapid rotation
Page 10
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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) Which is the largest moon in the solar system?
A) Titan
B) the Earth's moon
C) Ganymede
D) Triton
Q2) The fact that many of the larger Jovian moons orbit nearly in the equatorial plane of their host world, moving in the same direction as their planet's spin, suggest that they
A) formed from a rotating disk of gas and dust like a miniature solar system
B) were spun out from the rapidly spinning host world as it formed
C) formed elsewhere in the solar system and were later captured
D) were formed from a giant impact between the host world and another body
Q3) Which of the features is seen on the surface of Europa?
A) impact craters
B) giant cracks
C) water ice
D) all of these are seen
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Chapter 10: The Nature and Evolution of Habitability
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65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20272
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is a crucial factor in enabling habitability on the surface of a rocky planet?
A) size
B) distance from parent star
C) presence of an atmosphere
D) all of these
Q2) The Moon is in the habitable zone of the Sun at the same distance as the Earth but is not habitable. How can this be?
A) the Moon did have water on its surface in the past, but it was destroyed by high-energy particles from the Sun
B) the Moon has never had water on its surface at any time
C) the Moon is too small to retain an atmosphere necessary for liquid water to be stable
D) the Moon did have water on its surface in the past, but it was blasted off the surface by impacts
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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) Which of the following extrasolar planets would be the most difficult to detect using the Doppler shift method?
A) a low mass planet far from its parent star
B) a massive planet close to its parent star
C) a low mass planet close to its parent star
D) a massive planet far from its parent star
Q2) When Mercury or Venus passes in front of the disk of the Sun, we call this
A) an eclipse
B) a shadow event
C) a transit
D) an occultation
Q3) The average density of a planet can be obtained from A) the Doppler method only
B) a combination of the Doppler and transit methods
C) the transit method only
D) a combination of the astrometric and Doppler methods
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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) One of the most likely places an advanced civilization might leave an artifact for us to find would be
A) in the desert of Roswell, New Mexico
B) the L4 and L5 points in the Earth-Moon system
C) in the Cydonia region of Mars
D) on the far side of the Moon
Q2) Intelligence may be subject to convergent evolution because it
A) is inevitable
B) is a fundamental characteristic of life
C) has survival value
D) is required for survival
Q3) If the communication lifetime of civilizations in our galaxy is 100 million years and our galaxy is 13 billion years old, what is the chance of us detecting another intelligent civilization now?
A) 1 in 1,300,000
B) 1 in 13
C) 1 in 1300
D) 1 in 130
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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) When an electron collides with a positron producing a pair of high gamma rays, we call this process
A) pair production
B) matter obliteration
C) photodisintegration
D) annihilation
Q2) It is very likely that the general theory of relativity will need to be refined because it is currently incompatible with A) electromagnetism
B) quantum mechanics
C) Newtonian gravity
D) all of these
Q3) In Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, spacetime is A) one dimensional
B) two dimensional
C) four dimensional
D) three dimensional
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