Practice Test

Please solve the following questions. This is not a real exam, it will not be graded, and you do not need to submit your solutions to anyone. The questions are simply intended to help you practice for the real exam.

These questions will not appear in the exam itself. Students who don't genuinely attempt to solve the questions on their own, and only memorize the solutions, will have a very hard time in the actual exam!

This sample exam is online, but the real exam will be given in person, at a time and place indicated on the course website.

THIS IS NOT THE ACTUAL EXAM!
THIS IS JUST A PRACTICE EXAM!
THE REAL EXAM IS IN PERSON!

If you need any clarifications for these questions, you can ask for them on the course Teams channel.

Question 1

Photon A has wavelength 2 cm. Photon B has wavelength 1 cm. Which photon has a higher frequency?

Photon B.
Photon A.
Both have the same frequency.

Question 2

Compared to RR Lyrae variables, Cepheid variables typically have...

Higher luminosity and shorter period.
Higher luminosity and longer period.
Lower luminosity and shorter period.

Question 3

Which of the following is a red dwarf?

M5 V
O4 III
G2 V

Question 4

In the proton-proton chain, how many total hydrogen nuclei do we start with? (Remember that steps 1 and 2 happen twice in a full chain!)

4.
1.
2.

Question 5

What kind of mass is defined as the strength of an object's gravitational field?

Gravitational mass.
Neither of the other options is correct.
Inertial mass.

Question 6

In an atom, the protons are located...

Either inside or outside the nucleus, depending on the type of atom.
Outside the nucleus.
Inside the nucleus.

Question 7

Which of the following is the longest?

1 trillion kilometers.
1 light-year.
1 parsec.

Question 8

In the H-R diagram, red dwarfs can be found...

At higher luminosity and lower temperature than the main sequence.
On the main sequence.
At higher luminosity and higher temperature than the main sequence.

Question 9

Which of the following stars is the least bright in the sky?

A star with apparent magnitude +3.1.
A star with apparent magnitude +7.0.
A star with apparent magnitude -4.4.

Question 10

If a particle has charge +1, what would be the charge of its antiparticle?

+1.
0.
-1.

Question 11

What is nuclear fusion?

The process where nuclei are destroyed and converted into pure energy.
The process where light nuclei combine into heavier nuclei.
The process where heavy nuclei split into lighter nuclei.

Question 12

I see a very bright star. This could mean:

Either the distance to the star is small or the luminosity of the star is large.
Either the distance to the star is large or the luminosity of the star is large.
Either the distance to the star is large or the luminosity of the star is small.

Question 13

A photon has a wavelength of 700 nm. What color is it?

Red.
Blue.
Green.

Question 14

I found a hydrogen-9 isotope. How many neutrons does it have?

7
6
8

Question 15

Object A has mass 1 kg. Object B has mass 9 kg. According to E=mc², how much rest energy does object B have compared to A?

9 times more energy.
3 times less energy.
3 times more energy.

Question 16

I observed an object, larger than Earth but smaller than the Sun, which generates light by deuterium fusion but not hydrogen fusion. What is it?

A brown dwarf.
A planet.
A star.

Question 17

Star A has brighter apparent magnitude than star B. What does that say about the luminosity of the two stars?

Star B is more luminous.
There's no way to know unless we also know the distance to each star.
Star A is more luminous.

Question 18

A star is located on the top left of the H-R diagram. This star has...

High luminosity and low temperature.
High luminosity and high temperature.
Low luminosity and low temperature.

Question 19

What happens to the mass in electron-positron annihilation?

Its rest energy is converted into gravitational potential energy of the produced photons.
The mass is conserved, and converted into the mass of the photons.
Its rest energy is converted into kinetic energy of the produced photons.

Question 20

If the spectral lines of a star shift toward blue, this means...

The star is moving toward us.
The star is not moving with respect to us.
The star is moving away from us.

Question 21

Which of the following stars is the coolest?

K5
K9
K3

Question 22

Which of the following is a main-sequence star?

K6 V
G2 IV
B5 II

Question 23

I want to measure the distance to a star that is estimated to be a few thousand light-years away. Which method should I use?

Stellar parallax
RR Lyrae variables
Cepheid variables

Question 24

A proton is made of...

2 up quarks and 1 down quark.
1 up quark and 2 down quarks.
1 up quark and 1 down quark.

Question 25

A star was measured to have a parallax of 0.2 arc seconds. How far away is the star?

6 parsecs.
5 parsecs.
4 parsecs.