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

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

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

Question 2

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

0.
+1.
-1.

Question 3

What kind of mass is defined as resistance of an object to acceleration?

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

Question 4

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

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

Question 5

Which of the following is the longest?

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

Question 6

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

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

Question 7

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

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

Question 8

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

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

Question 9

Which of the following is a blue giant?

O4 III
M2 III
M5 V

Question 10

I see a very faint 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 small.
Either the distance to the star is large or the luminosity of the star is large.

Question 11

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

Cepheid variables
RR Lyrae variables
Stellar parallax

Question 12

A proton is made of...

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

Question 13

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

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

Question 14

Which of the following stars is the coolest?

K3
K9
K5

Question 15

Which of the following is a bright giant?

G2 IV
K6 V
B5 II

Question 16

In the proton-proton chain, how many total helium nuclei do we end up with?

4.
2.
1.

Question 17

What is nuclear fusion?

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

Question 18

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

A planet.
A star.
A brown dwarf.

Question 19

A star was measured to have a parallax of 0.25 arc seconds. How far away is the star?

4 parsecs.
5 parsecs.
6 parsecs.

Question 20

A star is located on the bottom right of the H-R diagram. This star has...

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

Question 21

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 22

In an atom, the protons are located...

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

Question 23

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

7
8
6

Question 24

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 25

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

Red.
Blue.
Green.